Uganda: Bid round launched

Uganda has launched its first licensing round, offering six blocks in the Albertine Graben totalling 2,938km2. The blocks cover areas relinquished by Tullow, Total and CNOOC, and have seismic and well data, and in some cases smaller oil and gas discoveries. Energy and mineral development minister Irene Muloni told African Energy in November a key priority for the government in the bid round would be to encourage service providers to increase efficiency and push down costs, so as to minimise their cost recovery and maximise the state’s share.