The Petroleum Exploration and Production Department of the Ministry of Energy of Uganda has revised oil reserves estimates by 85%, from 3.5 Gbl to 6.5 Gbl, after recent appraisals of oil wells. The new appraisal of oil reserves also enabled to discover about 500 bcf (14 bcm) of gas reserves.
In 2006, Uganda discovered oil in the Albertine rift basin near the Congo DR's border and explored about 40% of the basin, corresponding to 1.4 Gbl of recoverable oil. Oil production has been progressively delayed to 2017 by infrastructure setbacks, tax disputes and contractual disagreements. Uganda plans to lift the 2007 moratorium on licensing new exploration companies and is preparing for open competitive licensing rounds (in 2015 at the earliest) to boost reserves and extend the production period, currently estimated at 20 to 30 years. More than 80 companies would be interested in the Albertine oil resources.