Wildlife group slams Heritage's plan for oil exploration in Uganda

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said it has protested against Heritage Oil's simultaneous drilling in the Murchison Falls National Park, one of the areas where the company is exploring for oil in western Uganda. UWA said it raised its objections with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the body responsible for Uganda's environmental safety, after receiving an impact assessment report Heritage had done ahead of exploration.
"They are planning on drilling multiple wells at the same time and we're saying that will have an adverse impact on animal life," executive director Moses Mapesa told. "Drilling has to be phased so that it doesn't scare away the animals in the park."

Uganda's Lake Albert basin has seen exploratory activity after the east African country discovered substantial deposits of petroleum in early 2006. Tullow Oil, Europe's largest independent explorer, and Heritage have found billions of barrels of oil under the lake.
The area known as the Albertine Graben is home to mountain gorillas, the golden monkey and 42 bird species, as well as the Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth and Rwenzori Mountains national parks.

Heritage's country manager, Brian Westwood, told NEMA has cleared all its activities and that the well drilling program in the park would take a long time and would not be simultaneous.
"We can only have one rig in the park at a time," he said.

The government's Commissioner for Petroleum Exploration and Production, Ernst Rubondo, also said UWA's concerns were unwarranted.
"The company will be drilling one well at a time and so UWA's demand that the drilling should be phased is already taken care of by default," he said.