Cuba to train oil technicians in Uganda

Uganda is to send oil technicians to Cuba, a country which has been successful in oil and gas production, for training.
The plan to cooperate in the oil industry follows Uganda's major oil and gas discoveries in the Albertine region stretching for about 23,000 sq km, from the West-Nile to the south-western tip in the district of Kanungu.

Visiting the Energas Plant at Veladero Matanza Province in Cuba, President Yoweri Museveni said Uganda will use the gas from the oil wells for generating electricity.
A total of 34 oil wells have been drilled in the Albertine region, 32 of which have oil. The resource base, according to the energy ministry and the oil companies, can sustain long-term oil production that could propel Uganda to the top 50 oil producers in the world.

Sources in the Energy Ministry recently said the exploration had attracted about $ 506 mm (about sh 961.4 bn) in foreign direct investments. The figure is expected to go up to $ 900 mm (about sh 1.7 tn) by January.
Five exploration areas have been licensed to prospecting companies. The four oil prospecting companies include Tullow Oil, Heritage Oil and Gas, Dominion Petroleum and Neptune Resources.

According to a press release from State House, Museveni, who has been in Cuba for a four-day visit, congratulated the Cuban people for locally drilling oil and successfully utilising it to benefit their country. The President was accompanied by the First Lady, several ministers and permanent secretaries.
"I was last in Cuba 22 years ago. The country had not discovered oil. I am happy to find that for the last 10 years, Cuba has become an oil producer," Museveni remarked.

Vadiva Garcia, Cuba's gas minister, who briefed the Ugandans about the progress of Cuban oil exploration and production, said their electricity was generated from natural and associated gases using new engineering concepts and technology. She added that oil and gas production in Cuba was a strategic national project, which was closely monitored from exploration, extraction and utilisation.
Museveni also visited the Cuban Youth Centre Palace, where Cuban youth converge regularly to access benefits of new technologies. Cuba and Uganda established diplomatic relations in 1974.