Kingfisher oil field nears completion

Cnooc Uganda Ltd has revealed that the development of the Kingfisher Field Development Area (KFDA) is in the advanced stage, ahead of the first commercial oil production in the last quarter of 2025.

The KDFA, expected to have a maximum production of 40,000 barrels of oil per day for five years after which production will begin to decline, straddles Kikuube and Hoima districts.

The Cnooc well control engineer, Ms Vivian Naiga, told this newspaper during a site visit last week that they have so far installed three well pads, of the planned four, to facilitate drilling of 31 oil fields using the LR8001 rig.

A well pad is a site of facilities and other infrastructure for oil and gas drilling. 

“Drilling is currently ongoing on Well Pad 1, and so far, we have drilled 11 wells across the three pads,” Ms Naiga said, adding: “On well pad 1, we have drilled four wells. On well pad 2, three wells have been completed, and on well pad 3, four wells have been drilled. The fourth well pad will be the last. A well can take between 30 and 50 days to complete, depending on the conditions.”

Ms Naiga further revealed that nine oil wells are needed for first oil production “but we are on the 11th well now, meaning we are much ready for the production.”

“The rig costs about $200,000 (Shs731m) per day to operate. We install pipes to hold the rocks in place and use cement for reinforcement. The entire operation comes at a significant cost to the company,” she said.

She also indicated the construction of Central Processing Facility (CPF) is progressing, currently at 43.24 percent. A CPF is a plant where oil will be stored first for stabilisation and treatment before being fed into either the proposed refinery or pipeline.

The CPF will have a total of 13 tanks, including an on-spec tank that will hold more than 1,600 cubic meters of crude oil and off-spec tanks with a capacity of 3,037 cubic meters.

A second CPF will be developed at TotalEnergies EP’s industrial park in Buliisa district.

The KDFA is estimated to hold 560 million barrels of oil, 190 million of which are recoverable over the next 30 years.

The total cost of developing the KDFA leading to first oil is in the region of $2b (Shs7.3 trillion).

Early oil drilling works at the KDFA commenced last year in January when President Museveni commissioned the LR8001 rig.

Cnooc’s media and publicity supervisor, Mr Andrew Mbigiti, said they began with exploration, completed that phase, and made the final investment decision on February 1, 2022.

“The development includes the construction of facilities for oil production, staff housing, and a central processing facility to clean the extracted oil by removing sand, water, and other impurities. We have also built worker camps at the Kingfisher oil field," Mr Mbigiti said.

Development of the KFDA, according to the oi sector regulator, PAU, employs an estimated 1,500 people, of whom, 1,300 are Ugandans and about 500 are from the communities surrounding the project.