The Oil and Gas Expo is set to link Ugandans to career and training opportunities.
Drake Nyamugabwa
Uganda’s significant investment in the oil and gas sector has unlocked various opportunities into the economy for contractors, employment of Ugandans, promotion of national content development in the implementation of the oil and gas projects, and safeguarding the environment among others.
The Oil and Gas Skilling Expo will be hosted at the International University of East Africa (IUEA) from 28th to 29th April 2023 and aimed at offering an opportunity to meet all the key stakeholders in the oil and gas industry in Uganda and East African Region
The oil and gas expo according to the organizers will open up training and career opportunities for Uganda. They call upon all Ugandans and regional citizens to grasp the opportunities that will be availed at the expo.
During the Oil and Gas Skilling Expo Breakfast meeting held at the International University of East Africa (IUEA) on 19th April 2023, Ali Ssekatawa, pictured above, the Director legal and Corporate Affairs at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda said that “As a result of our intervention, 5,876 Ugandans have directly been employed by the oil and gas companies”
Ssekatawa revealed that the announcement of the Final Investment Decision (FID) by the oil companies over the Tilenga, Kingfisher and the EACOP projects, unlocked an investment of around $15billion in this country over the next three to five years. This he said had opened employment opportunities for Ugandans in the sector.
“From 2017 to-date, the International Oil Companies have employed a cumulative number of around 5,876 Ugandans. This employment has fetched Ugandan employees over UGX 105,904,170,794 through the payroll costs,” he said.
the Vice Chancellor of IUEA said that "The Oil and Gas Skills Expo is an important platform for driving innovation and fostering collaboration in Uganda's rapidly growing oil and gas sector,"
Mr. David Bishop from Whorley - one of the companies contracted to work on the EACOP, said they will be conducting a training of trainers to enable those skilling students in oil and gas to get first-hand experience of how work is done.
The Theme of the expo is: “Unveiling the careers and training opportunities in the oil and gas sector in Uganda” and the main objective is to bring together stakeholders in the oil and gas sector, including employers such as contractors, and sub-contractors, training institutions, policy makers, associations in the skills development space, graduates, and students to share information on the available opportunities for employment, training, and career growth in the sector.
Registration for the event can be accessed at this link: https://forms.office.com/r/UhrQi6ii40 or https://lnkd.in/d6RBUqzg
The expo has been organised by PAU, IUEA, Oil and Gas Trainers Association (OGTAU) and supported by Total Energises, CNOOC, EACOP, UNOC among others.
The expo aims to showcase the latest technologies and trends in the oil and gas sector and provide a platform for industry stakeholders to network and exchange knowledge. It will feature exhibitions, workshops, and panel discussions covering a range of topics related to the industry, including upstream exploration and production, downstream activities, and environmental and social management.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Hon. Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, in a statement said that Uganda “intends to launch the third licensing round in order to foster continued exploration for additional petroleum resources required to sustain the Refinery and EACOP. This presents additional investment opportunities in areas of exploration, development, and production”
Uganda made the first commercial discovery of oil in 2006 and it is estimated that the country’s in-place volume of oil resources to-date is six and half (6.5) billion barrels of oil equivalent, of which 1.4 billion is estimated to be recoverable in the Albertine Graben. Uganda’s oil and gas resources are being commercialized through an oil refinery and crude oil export through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) that are being developed.
The Final Investment Decision for the upstream projects and the EACOP was announced on the 1st February 2022 and project developments are ongoing with a target of First Oil in 2025. These developments are expected to attract approximately United States Dollars Fifteen Billion (USD15B) into Uganda in the next 3 years.
