Environment protection in Uganda’s oil and gas sector

Why the agenda of “environmental fashion” driven by some environmental activists should consider our uniqueness

COMMENT | JOSEPH KOBUSHESHE | Following the announcement of the Final Investment Decision for Uganda’s flagship oil and gas projects, which are expected to deliver first oil in 2025, sections of the media have been awash with environmental and social concerns relating to the planned developments. Some have suggested that by the time Uganda starts production, its oil and gas resources will have no value because the world is moving to renewable energy. This gives the impression that Uganda’s oil journey is progressing in disregard of environmental and social protection and global “energy transition”.

There appears to be an agenda of “environmental fashion” driven by some environmental activists which does not consider the uniqueness of developing countries and lacks understanding of Uganda’s oil journey to date. Therefore, this article, I will give a snapshot of Uganda’s oil journey and the environmental and social safeguards on which the sector has been anchored.

When commercial quantities of oil and gas resources were confirmed in Uganda in 2006, Government embarked on ensuring the resources are utilised sustainably to create lasting value for Ugandans. This process dates as far back as 2008 when the National Oil and Gas Policy was formed. In the subsequent years, the country’s laws were updated to address Environmental, Social and Governance issues. New laws to address key issues such as petroleum waste management, climate change, and oil spills have also been enacted.

Several frameworks have been put in place to facilitate the monitoring and management of environmental and social aspects. These include a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the oil and gas activities in the Albertine Graben which was undertaken between 2010 and 2013 and approved by Cabinet in July 2015.

At the time, Uganda was among the first countries in Africa to undertake an SEA for its oil and gas projects and it was the first time that such a comprehensive SEA was being undertaken for a project in Uganda. The SEA brought out a holistic view of the key environment and social issues from oil and gas activities. These key issues were integrated into the policies, plans and programs that were consequently developed to govern the industry.

From the onset, highly sensitive environments were mapped and avoided during the planning for oil and gas infrastructure; and detailed environmental and socio-economic baseline data was acquired to facilitate monitoring of impacts from oil and gas operations.

Government works closely with the licensed oil companies and non-Government partners to ensure protection of the environment, human health and safety during oil and gas activities. During the planning and design phases, Government ensures that oil companies adopt sound environmental technologies and minimize the footprint of petroleum operations. For example, in 2013, during 3D seismic acquisition within Murchison Falls National Park, a modern cable-less technology that did not require any clearance of vegetation in the park was used. Uganda was the first country where such technology had ever been used on a land (onshore) oil and gas project.

Major oil and gas projects have been undertaken and completed successfully during the exploration and appraisal phases of the flagship projects that have progressed to the development and production phase. Thirty (30) seismic surveys have been undertaken resulting in the acquisition of close to 7,000-line kilometres of Two Dimensional (2-D) seismic data and about 2000 square kilometres of Three Dimensional (3-D) seismic data. One hundred and twenty-one (121) exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled. The well sites were fully restored after the drilling activities and had it not been for a small concrete well site marker, it would be impossible for one to even know that a petroleum activity was previously undertaken in these areas.

Approximately 34,000 tons of drill cuttings and 5,700 m³ of drilling fluids that were generated/used during the exploration and appraisal phases was treated and safely disposed-off leaving no trace of waste at any of the sites in the Albertine Graben.

The planned Tilenga and Kingfisher projects, which will produce an estimated 1.4 billion barrels of oil, together with the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) which will export some of the produced oil to international markets, were first subjected to a preliminary environmental and social screening process that informed the conceptual design of the projects. Subsequently, a rigorous risk/impact assessment process was undertaken in line with national environment laws and international best practices. This process provided the host communities and the public opportunity to freely express views. In addition to the comprehensive stakeholder consultations, public hearings were held for each of the three projects between 2018 and 2019. The feedback from the consultation process further informed the design of the projects and informed the mitigation measures for the identified potential negative impacts and public concerns. The impact assessment for the Refinery project is ongoing.

The projects will be developed by applying state-of-the-art energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies that will include multiple drilling of up to 15 wells from a single well pad and sharing of facilities to minimise the environmental footprint. Crude oil pipelines will be buried and equipped with leak detectors and valves to automatically shut down the pipeline in case of damage or abnormalities. Water recycling will greatly reduce the amount of freshwater abstraction by over 90% and avoid the huge volumes of wastewater requiring treatment and discharge into the environment. No flaring or venting of oil or gas will be permitted during normal operations. Overall, the projects fall within the category of “low emission”.

In a nutshell, Government has put in place a robust policy, legal and institutional framework, together with a monitoring and compliance enforcement framework to ensure that oil and gas activities mutually co-exist with the environment and social wellbeing of communities in the areas where oil and gas activities are being undertaken, and the country as a whole. This demonstrates how Uganda has avoided negative environmental and social impacts seen in some countries. In the next article, I will address the question of greenhouse gas emissions, and explain how Uganda’s oil and gas industry can make a positive contribution towards the overall net reduction in the country’s emissions.

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Joseph Kobusheshe is the Director Environment, Health, Safety and Security at the

Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU)

Email: corporateaffairs@pau.go.ug