Tullow to sell Ugandan assets

KAMPALA, Uganda, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Irish-based oil and gas exploration company Tullow Oil announced its plans to sell part of its Ugandan assets to help fund pipeline and refinery developments.

Tullow said it plans to sell part of its stake in Block 2 of the Lake Alberta basin to help finance other infrastructure, Ugandan news service New Vision reports.

Tullow announced earlier it uncovered 700 million barrels of oil in Uganda in deposits associated with Lake Albert.

But the company, faced with an 83 percent decline in first-half profits and a notable drop in North Sea oil production, needs cash to exploit the Ugandan finds.

Tim O'Hanlon, the vice president for African business at Tullow, said the financing was critical because his company lacked a pipeline or refinery portfolio.

"Uganda's oil basin development plan is an integrated project that requires building of a refinery that is linked with pipelines to supply local, regional and international markets," he said.

He went on to say his company was vetting appropriate partners for the Ugandan project, adding Tullow would move forward with the government's interest in mind.

President Yoweri Museveni, for his part, said any joint venture would remain a domestic effort to ensure oil profits remain in his country.