The Uganda Refinery Project includes the development of a 60,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) refinery located in Kabaale -Hoima District, a 211-kilometer multi-products pipeline from Kabaale to a distribution hub in Namwambula -Mpigi District, a refined product storage terminal in Namwabula – Mpigi, and a raw water pipeline from the Lake Albert to the refinery in Kabaale.
Government of Uganda through the UNOC and its subsidiary, the Uganda Refinery Holding Company, is developing the Uganda Refinery Project on a public-private partnership basis. The refinery will process crude oil from the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields into LPG, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and fuel oil, for both domestic and regional markets.
Kabalega (Hoima) Industrial Park
The Government identified and acquired 29sq.km of land for the development of the Kabalega Industrial Park(KIP). The master plan for the KIP which will house an international airport, refinery, crude oil, and products storage, transmission hub, logistics warehousing, offices, petrochemical industries, and associated facilities among others, was developed in 2018. The master plan provides for the development of utilities, infrastructure, and common services. The industrial park, which is in Kabaale, Hoima district is currently under development. Visit https://www.unoc.co.ug/kabaale-industrial-park-kip/ for more information.
Lead Investor for the Refinery
The Government of Uganda signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and an Implementation Agreement with Alpha MBM Investments to be the project lead investor is working on partnering with a lead investor for the development of the crude oil refinery in Uganda.
A significant milestone in the project was achieved on 29th March 2025 with the signing of the Implementation Agreement (IA) between GoU and Alpha MBM Investments LLC-FZ, the selected Refinery Developer. This agreement paves the way for the commencement of detailed design work, environmental studies, project financing, and the formation of the Refinery Company.
Legal Framework
The National Oil and Gas Policy for Uganda 2008 recommends refining the discovered oil in-country to supply the national and regional petroleum product demand before consideration of exportation.
To facilitate achievement of this policy objective, the Petroleum (Refining, Conversion, Transmission and Midstream Storage) Act 2013 was enacted by Parliament during February 2013, and became effective during July 2013 following Presidential assent. This Act provides for among others, the legal foundation for the development of a Refinery in Uganda, and other Midstream infrastructure like pipelines and storage facilities.
Following enactment of the Midstream Act, the Ministry of Energy, and Mineral Development together with the other arms of Government put in place general Licensing, National Content, and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) regulations to operationalise the Act.
Land Acquisition
The acquisition of the land required for the Refinery commenced in 2012 with the preparation of a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for Project Affected Persons (PAPs) and was concluded. Overall, 2,670 people were affected by the Project. The PAPs were either given cash compensation or resettled to a near by location acquired by Government.
The Government constructed houses for seventy-two (72) PAPs who opted for physical resettlement. The land titles for the houses, and farmland were handed over to seventy-two (72) PAPs in Kyakaboga – Hoima District as part of the RAP implementation for the refinery project on 19th May 2022.