Uganda President Yoweri Museveni said Wednesday he officially launched "Pearl Sweet" as the name of the country's crude oil after a ceremony at the Kingfisher Development Area Project, located in the southeast of Lake Albert.
"I concluded an oversight visit to the Kingfisher Development Area and presided over the crude oil naming ceremony, where I officially launched the name of Uganda's crude oil as 'Pearl Sweet,'" Museveni said in a post on X.
He described the milestone as a step toward developing Uganda's oil and gas resources, increasing domestic value creation and supporting broader economic transformation.
"Through refining, petrochemical industries and the use of associated gas for electricity generation, we shall maximise the value of our resources here at home and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products," Museveni said.
Museveni credited oil companies, technical teams and Ugandan professionals for reaching the milestone and said Uganda should direct oil revenues toward durable infrastructure and productive sectors.
"For the first time, our crude will have a distinct identity of its own, one that will accompany it from Uganda's oil fields to refineries and markets around the world," Uganda National Oil said Wednesday in a post on X.
France's TotalEnergies (TTE) holds a 56.67% majority stake in the fields, while China National Offshore Oil owns 28.33% and Uganda National Oil holds the remaining interest, according to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda.
Uganda's Pearl Sweet crude will reach global markets via the $5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a 1,443-kilometer link connecting the country's oil fields to Tanzania's Tanga port, Reuters reported.
The country discovered commercial crude reserves around 20 years ago in oilfields near the Albertine rift basin on its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to PAU, the Kingfisher Development Area Project centers on building a Central Processing Facility capable of handling 40,000 barrels of oil per day.
The development covers a single onshore oilfield situated along the shores of Lake Albert in Kikuube District, PAU said.
The field holds about 568 million barrels of oil, with recoverable resources projected at about 186 million barrels, according to PAU estimates.
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