Uganda names its crude oil blend 'Pearl Sweet' ahead of commercial production

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MBALE, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities on Wednesday named the country’s prospective crude oil blend “Pearl Sweet,” marking a milestone as the East African country gears up for commercial production by the end of the year.

Officials announced the name at a remote oil infrastructure site, celebrating Uganda’s emergence as an oil producer.

The name chosen for Uganda’s crude oil blend is a nod to Winston Churchill’s description of Uganda in the last century as “the pearl of Africa,” and officials said the “sweet” in the nomenclature reflects the crude blend’s low sulfur content.

“The name combines national identity with a commercial description,” the Ministry of Energy said in a statement. “Naming supports future crude marketing activities and engagement with potential buyers.”

Uganda is estimated to have recoverable oil reserves of roughly 1.6 billion barrels. The investors are French oil company TotalEnergies, which owns the largest stake, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC. The Ugandan people, through the Uganda National Oil Company, own 15% of the projects.

"This marks an important milestone in our journey to develop Uganda’s oil and gas resources for value addition and economic transformation," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said. "Through refining, petrochemical industries and the use of associated gas for electricity generation, we shall maximize the value of our resources here at home and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.”

Production is expected to plateau at about 230,000 barrels per day, with blended crude exports emerging from separate projects by CNOOC and TotalEnergies.

Wednesday’s event in Kikuube, the site of a CNOOC project known as Kingfisher, signals progress despite legal and other setbacks since the discovery two decades ago of commercially viable quantities of crude deposits.

The oil development projects are linked to the controversial construction of a heated pipeline linking Uganda’s oil fields near Lake Albert to a port in Tanzania. Environmentalists and others have opposed the pipeline, saying it runs afoul of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Most efforts by climate watchdogs seeking to stop Uganda’s oil projects have focused on TotalEnergies, which has been sued in France at least twice by groups and individuals alleging food and land rights violations.

Oil wells are being drilled within western Uganda’s Murchison Falls National Park, where the Nile River plummets 130 feet (40 meters) through a gap just 20 feet (6 meters) wide and the surrounding wilderness is home to hippos, egrets, giraffes and antelope. The pipeline is to pass through forest reserves and game parks, running alongside Lake Victoria, a source of fresh water for 40 million people.

That ecological fragility is one reason why some activists oppose the project despite assurances from TotalEnergies that the pipeline’s state-of-the-art design will ensure safety for decades.

Ugandan officials expressed anger toward opposition to the pipeline, saying climate campaigns verged on interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country. They say oil wealth can lift millions out of poverty.