Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has unveiled and christened the crude blend that is expected to come online by the end of 2026 as Pearl Sweet.
The colorful launch was held at the Kingfisher field on the shores of Lake Albert, ushering in a new era for the landlocked country, joining the commonwealth of oil-producing countries.
While delivering his remarks at the naming ceremony, President of Uganda H.E Yower Kaguta Museveni commended all the oil companies, technical teams and Ugandan professionals whose efforts have brought us to this milestone.
He also emphasized that Uganda’s petroleum resources must deliver more than crude oil, creating lasting value at home through refining, petrochemical development and the utilisation of associated gas for electricity generation. Uganda can turn its petroleum resources into a catalyst for industrialization, job creation and greater energy security.
According to the IMF, Uganda’s domestic revenues will gradually increase from 15 billion dollars (UGX52 trillion) during the first year of oil production to 19 billion dollars (UGX66 trillion) in three years.
In a similar launch, Permanent Secretary of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Ms. Irene Bateebe, said, “We now come to the heart of today’s occasion. The naming of Uganda’s crude oil is a deeply significant process: the naming ceremony. The chosen name carries the word Pearl into our crude oil, thereby bringing our national identity to the international petroleum market.”
“Every barrel of Uganda’s Crude should remind us that Uganda’s petroleum resources belong to the people of Uganda and must be developed responsibly and transformed into lasting value,” said Ms. Irene Bateebe
Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) described the unveiling of the crude name as a first-timer, which will usher in a Ugandan crude with a distinct identity of its own, one that will accompany it from Uganda’s oil fields to refineries and markets around the world.
CNOOC International’s Kingfisher and TotalEnergies’ Tilenga are two of Uganda’s oilfields expected to come onstream in the third quarter of 2026, flowing crude – the blend is considered medium light with an API gravity in the 28 to 31degree range to Tanga port on Tanzania’s coast through one of the region’s longest pipelines, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
The 1443-kilometre EACOP pipeline is about 93% complete to date; over 800 kilometres have been welded, 300 kilometres coated with liquid epoxy, and 115 kilometres buried underground. Installation of high-voltage cables along the pipeline route is also ongoing.
Tilenga is designed to produce about 190,000 barrels per day at peak, with Kingfisher contributing some 40,000 bpd. UNOC holds a 15% stake in Kingfisher, Tilenga and EACOP. The other partners in the pipeline are TotalEnergies, state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and CNOOC International.
Development of the fields and pipeline represents an investment of around $15 billion, said UNOC, with more than $12 billion already spent across the three projects
Pearl Sweet will combine the crude produced from Tilenga and Kingfisher at the Kabaale facility in Hoima before it is pumped into the heated 1443-kilometre EACOP pipeline.
