Uganda is projected to earn approximately Shs114 billion ($30 million) annually from electricity generated using associated gas at the Kingfisher oilfield, President Yoweri Museveni has revealed.
During a visit to the Kingfisher oil development in Buhuka, Kikuube District, Museveni said Uganda had chosen to utilize the gas produced alongside crude oil rather than routinely flare it, with plans to generate up to 80 megawatts of electricity from the field.
“Here, we said no to flaring gas. We shall be using the gas to generate electricity, up to 80 megawatts at Kingfisher alone,” Museveni said.
The planned 80-megawatt power plant would produce nearly half the electricity generated by the 180-megawatt Nalubaale Hydropower Station in Jinja. According to Museveni, the project could earn about $30 million annually, depending on factors such as electricity tariffs, gas supply, operating capacity and power-purchase agreements.
Associated gas is produced alongside crude oil during extraction and is often burned when infrastructure for processing or transportation is unavailable. Uganda, however, intends to use part of the gas for power generation while converting the remainder into liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic cooking.
“The other gas will be condensed and turned into liquefied petroleum gas for cooking,” Museveni noted.
Uganda has discovered an estimated 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas alongside about 6.5 billion barrels of petroleum resources, of which around 1.4 billion barrels are currently recoverable.
The planned LPG production is expected to reduce reliance on imported cooking gas and traditional biomass fuels. According to the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the country consumes about 25,000 tonnes of LPG annually, equivalent to roughly 1.2 kilogrammes per person.
Despite this, firewood and charcoal remain the primary cooking fuels in Uganda. The 2024 National Population Census showed that 65% of households use firewood while 48.6% rely on charcoal, with many households using multiple fuel sources.
Kingfisher’s Central Processing Facility, which has reached mechanical completion, is designed to process 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day alongside associated gas, produced water and other fluids. Operated by CNOOC Uganda, the facility includes gas processing, electricity generation and LPG production systems.
The utilization of associated gas is expected to create an additional revenue stream for the Kingfisher project while boosting electricity supply and reducing emissions and waste linked to routine gas flaring.
