Drilling companies report that they have already discovered 380,000,000 cubic meters (2.4 billion barrels) of oil – and enough natural gas to provide 400,000 cubic meters (14,000,000 cubic feet) every day – just in Uganda.

A scientific study of the known reserves, which are 30 per cent of what has been explored so far, recommended that the country begins at 60,000 bpd and progressively increase this figure if more discoveries are made. More discoveries are expected in Uganda and other Great Lakes countries. Uganda is the new oil province in the region.

Crude oil has a unique role in world energy: the transportation sectors of all nations' economies are almost 100 percent dependent on products refined from crude oil, and this dependence is at the heart of global geopolitical factors that transcend mere economics. The price of crude oil is subject to the vagaries of geopolitics, as the world learned during the 1973 Arab oil embargo of western nations.

It has often been argued that oil and gas extraction is a threat to the environment. However, with ample safeguards, it is possible to control the levels of pollution substantially. Some oil and gas commentators argue that odds of an "oil curse" are higher in developing nations. Others however think it is a huge blessing that could fuel an economic boom.

Uganda's oil exploration efforts commenced during the colonial times. Exploration is the process of gathering information about the hydrocarbon potential of porous rocks that may lie thousands of feet, indeed several miles, beneath the land surface. Today the process of exploration still continues in the country. Drilling companies report that they have already discovered 380,000,000 cubic meters (2.4 billion barrels) of oil – and enough natural gas to provide 400,000 cubic meters (14,000,000 cubic feet) every day – just in Uganda.

A scientific study of the known reserves, which are 30 per cent of what has been explored so far, recommended that the country begins at 60,000 bpd and progressively increase this figure if more discoveries are made. If utilized according to plans natural gas may have a significant impact on Uganda's economy. This clean burning energy could fuel several big power plants that would generate enough electricity to turn lights on all over Uganda and the Great Lakes region.

Uganda has thus established the existence of huge volumes of natural gas. Uganda's natural gas could provide a transforming recipe for livelihood improvement. This natural gas is an energy source that Uganda requires for a vibrant competitive industrial base.

Natural gas plays a unique role in discussions of sustainable development. It is often produced with oil, and the two fossil fuels earn the opprobrium of those for whom sustainable development means greater reliance on renewables, such as wind and solar and biomass. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Each unit of methane released into the atmosphere has about 20 times the heat-trapping potency of a unit of CO2. However, the carbon content per BTU of gas is only 55 percent of that for coal and 70 percent of that for oil, so its use as a substitute for the other fossil fuels significantly reduces CO2 emissions.

Natural gas is by far the cleanest burning of the three major fossil fuels. It is virtually free of sulfur and toxic metals such as mercury. For these reasons, gas plays a unique role in the debate over sustainable energy production and use. More discoveries are expected in Uganda and other Great Lakes countries. Uganda is the new oil province in the region. Firms involved in the nascent oil sector include London-listed Tullow Oil, Heritage Oil, French oil company Total and Chinese oil group CNOOC.

His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda in his address to the nation at the close of 2011 stated that the recent discovery of significant amounts of oil reserves presents a new ray of hope to Uganda's long term vision of transforming itself from a low income to a medium income and self-sustaining economy.

He noted that experience from some oil producing countries clearly demonstrates the need to have prudent management of the oil revenues through establishment of a strong and appropriate legal and institutional framework for oil revenue management.

In taking cognizance of the fact that oil is a non-renewable resource, the President underscored the fact that the revenues will be only to the primary development sectors of the economy as identified in the National Development Plan (NDP). The key priority sectors will be:

President Museveni reiterated in his end of year address that oil revenues shall not be used for consumption but for durable investments that will benefit the present and future generations. Oil and gas activities will provide opportunities for both forward and backward linkages in the country's quest for industrialization.

In order to realize maximum benefit from oil and gas, the Government of Uganda has emphasized the establishment of an oil refinery in the oil and gas producing area. This refinery will ensure that Uganda earns more as a country as opposed to exporting crude oil, which would earn the country far less. In economics, the difference between the sale price and the production cost of a product is the value added per unit. Summing value added per unit over all units sold is total value added.

Total value added is equivalent to Revenue less Outside Purchases (of materials and services). In national accounts used in macroeconomics, it refers to the contribution of the factors of production, i.e., land, labour, and capital goods, to raising the value of a product and corresponds to the incomes received by the owners (citizens) of these factors. The national value added is shared between capital and labor (as the factors of production).

The Government of Uganda commissioned a study that clearly illustrated that it is viable to develop an oil refinery in Uganda, produce finished products and supply Ugandan and regional markets rather than construct a pipeline and export crude oil. The feasibility study by Foster Wheeler confirmed the viability of a refinery in Uganda. This study ended a raging debate as to whether a refinery would be a viable investment for the country. Initially, the government was torn between refining the oil locally or building a pipeline and exporting crude. The latter was the preference of the prospecting firms, which wanted crude oil exported via pipeline to the coast of Mombasa.

The refinery will now be built at Kabaale village in Hoima, western Uganda, in the Albertine Graben, where commercially viable oil reserves were discovered in 2006. A phased construction of the refinery would start with a capacity for limited production to satisfy the domestic market whose demand ranges between 20,000-25,000 barrels per day. The refinery's capacity is expected to be ramped up gradually thereafter to meet regional and international demand, with output peaking at about 200,000 barrels per day. When fully developed, the refinery is projected to cost $2 billion.

Uganda's approach to the management of oil and gas resources hinges on key elements of sustainability. Sustainable development in oil and gas is defined as meeting "the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs," and then translated it into a "triple bottom line" of accountability that meshes organization business strategy with the three legs of the sustainable development tripod—economic progress, environmental progress, and social progress. The triple bottom line or "TBL" congruence can be summarized as follows:

Corporate economic growth, as measured in terms of revenues, earnings, and shareholder return, is the analogue of a nation's economic growth, based on the taxes, royalties, profit-sharing revenues, employment effects, and technology transfers that private investment in the oil and gas sector bring to a nation. Access to domestic oil and gas resources can also reduce oil imports which require scarce foreign currency reserves.

Corporate environmental stewardship, as measured in terms of increased energy efficiency, pollution reductions, and mitigation projects, for cleaner air, water, and land, and for the preservation of areas of unique ecological value.

In addition, Uganda's revenues from domestic oil and gas production shall be spent on social infrastructure projects that reduce income inequality and provide affordable, clean energy to underserved populations whose only energy sources are firewood, dried dung, and canisters of kerosene. Through effective management of oil and gas resources Uganda will significantly improve the welfare of her citizens.