Uganda will award new oil and gas exploration licenses in 2015 after an eight-year halt in licensing. According to the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, the government is planning to license over a dozen oil blocks.

Out of the 76 88 oil exploration and appraisal wells drilled in Uganda hit oil, bringing estimated reserves to at least 3.5 billion barrels of crude from 500 million barrels in 2007.

The new licensing programme is expected to attract major international oil companies. Uganda stopped issuing oil exploration licenses in 2007 in an effort to give the country time to develop regulations to ensure that Ugandans would benefit in the oil programme.

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