Uganda's first barrels of oil may face a bumpy journey to market according to government officials.
With the low-sulphur, high paraffin crude set to flow in earnest in early 2012, the country's oil officials are warning that moving the product from the field may be the biggest challenge because of its propensity to solidify at surface temperatures.
However, this is just another bump in the road for Uganda's estimated $10bn oil programme after a recent tax dispute with Ireland's Tullow Oil - who own the majority rights to much of the reserves - was finally settled with France's Total and China's National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) taking 67% of the interests. The latter partnership is the second of its kind recently, with CNOOC selling a stake in its Qatari field to Total.
To date the Uganda exploration has simply been test sites from fields covering a total of around 160km2, with the oil and gas being flared. However, extended testing, which starts in June 2011 with a view to full production next year, will now include a separator unit that will allow the test oil to provide industrial power generation and furnace heating.