Bobi Wine to review Uganda oil deals if elected next week
The Uganda opposition candidates says oil deals that do not favour Ugandans will be revised if he wins the presidential elections.
Bobi Wine, the main opposition candidate in Uganda's presidential election next week, said he would review the country's agreements with international oil firms if he won power and revise any that did not favour Ugandans.
Uganda expects to start commercial crude oil production later this year when fields run by France's TotalEnergies , China's CNOOC and Uganda National Oil Company come online.
TotalEnergies and CNOOC both operate on the basis of production-sharing agreements with the government.
"We shall study all agreements," Wine, a former pop star who is challenging Museveni for the second straight election after winning 35% of the vote in 2021, told Reuters during an interview in the capital, Kampala.
"And any part in those agreements that does not favour Ugandans will definitely be revised."
Uganda's information minister, TotalEnergies and CNOOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Oil production delay
Uganda's oil reserves are estimated at 6.65 billion barrels.
It discovered the oil 20 years ago but production has been repeatedly delayed by disagreements between international firms and the government and opposition from environmental activists.
President Museveni, 81, has governed Uganda for 40 years. .
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said he had been beaten twice by security forces during campaigns and blocked from campaigning in certain areas.
Hundreds of his supporters have been detained during the campaign, according to Wine and the United Nations.
The government has said all arrests are based on legitimate criminal violations.