Oil discovered in Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda -- Oil has been discovered in western Uganda after years of exploration, its president announced Sunday, saying he expected production to begin in 2009.\nPresident Yoweri Museveni said the country plans to build an oil refinery, with Uganda initially producing between 6,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.\nHe did not give details of how the oil will be produced, saying only that Uganda has studied various oil production contracts around the world. The government will use some of the oil to produce electricity, Museveni said.\nSome opposition politicians have said that the oil could turn into a curse and lead to wars, as it has done in other countries, but the president dismissed those concerns.\n"The oil of Uganda cannot be a curse. Oil becomes a curse when you have got useless leaders, and I can assure you that we don't approach that description even by a thousandth of a mile," Museveni said. "The oil is a blessing for Uganda, and money from it will be used for development."\nThomas Male, a Ministry of Energy official, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the three fields in western Uganda where the oil has been discovered have 100 million barrels to 300 million barrels of oil in reserve with 30 million barrels ready for extraction.\nThat figure would be low compared to other oil producing countries in Africa. By comparison, Chad produces about 170,000 barrels a day while Sudan produces several hundred thousand barrels a day.\nNigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, is currently producing more than 2.3 million barrels a day.\nOil exploration in western Uganda began in earnest in 1989. An Australian oil exploration company, Hardman Resources Ltd., discovered oil at three wells in western Uganda in June, Museveni told participants at a national prayer breakfast Sunday.\nMuseveni said officials were waiting to make the announcement until after a national prayer festival that began Saturday.\nEver since rumors about the oil began circulating, wealthy Ugandans have been scrambling to buy land near where the exploration was taking place.