14 November 2014 – Uganda has set a deadline of 19 January for the final bids for its tender process of its first oil refinery, a person familiar with the situation said.
The refinery project, known as Hoima, will cost about USD 3bn to build, as previously reported by Mergermarket. A Russian consortium comprising of Rostec, VTB Capital and Tatneft, is vying with SK Energy [KRX:03600] a South Korean firm, for the project.
The winner is expected to be announced in early February, the person said.
Should the Russian consortium win, it would need to secure feedstock for the refinery, which will have a capacity of 60,000 bbl/d.
Mergermarket first reported Rostec’s interest Uganda’s Albert basin oil field May, when a source told this news service that the Russian firm had approached Tullow with an expression of interest for its share of the asset.
However, Tullow denied it is divesting the Albert Basin, in which it owns 33% after farming out to Total and CNOOC in 2012. Tullow and its partners have estimated the oil field will yield a production volume of 200,000 bbl/d, as previously reported by this news service.
By Katie McQue
Katie McQue 