Uganda 'cooking up' blocks auction

In cooking pot: Uganda blocks

Uganda will auction 13 blocks for oil and gas exploration when the country's president signs a new bill governing the petroleum sector into law, a senior energy official was reported as saying on Wednesday.

The East African nation's parliament passed a petroleum law last month aimed at guaranteeing transparency in the oil sector through a clear management structure.

"We are waiting for a presidential assent to that law and then we will be ready to advertise for a new licensing round. We have 13 blocks that are currently not licensed which prospective bidders can apply for," junior energy minister Peter Lokeris told Reuters.

Uganda struck commercial hydrocarbons in the Albertine rift basin near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.

A total of 87 wells have since been drilled, 76 of which have been…

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