How Captain Lugard first detected Uganda's Albertine oil in 1891

The inspiring reality that oil is in Uganda can be dated back to 1891. Around this time, Captain F. Lugard, the British colonial administrator, was in perfect term with the Kabaka of Buganda except for Omukama Kabalega of Bunyoro who was becoming counterproductive to his effort of imposing full British control over the beautiful land, Uganda.

And during one of his furious military attacks on Omukama Kabalega, Captain Lugard finds himself in a very uncommon scene, strange surface seeps of black sticky liquid painting the rocky soils of the northern part of the Lake Albert region. Releasing his arm and dipping his fingers in the black thing and then jacking it back for thorough discernment closely against his eyes, the sticky stuff, with experience was real oil. This mega stun would usher in Lugard's perplexing declaration of ownership over the Albertine oil deposit. A lot has since happened from that historical discovery.

On 28th August 2014, the government of Uganda announced that the oil resources in the Lake Albert region are 6.5 billion barrels in volume. And at least 1 billion barrels is the recoverable oil of those 6.5 billion barrels in the underground shelves. Recoverable oil is technically and economically possible extract from the ground.

At the prevailing global price of US$60 per barrel, Uganda's recoverable oil reserve will potentially turn around the country's economy and see the standard of living for millions of its nationals raised if well managed.

How was the oil formed?

Well, Uganda's Albertine oil was formed millions of years ago when dead plant material drifted down through the renown Lake Albert. The plant material was then buried on the lake floor as minute organic material. And while confined in the rocks on the lake floor, this organic material was then transformed over a long period of time by the immense underground heat and pressure into the crude oil of today. Scientists call the oil formed this way ''fossil oil."

How geologists currently locate the fossil oil

Fossil oils occur in the range of 1.5km to 3km depth in the ground concentrated in isolated deposits. Logically, discovering the precious black gold thus requires a lot of knowledge, use of technology,  and is not only very costly but also time-consuming.

Often, oil can be spotted as seeps on the surface as a black sticky liquid the way Captain Lugard did with the Albertine. But in most cases, geologists start by studying surface features, rock and soil types in the area. These features are by experience closely identical in all areas where oil deposit is.

The next step involves taking a seismic survey. Here, a sound wave is sent into the ground by exploding dynamite. Then the returning sound to the surface is measured using a machine. The particular behaviours of the returning of sound to the surface are then profiled by a simple computer program. As backed up by a number of scientific evidence, the profiling is very predictive of the possibility of oil and is one of the last steps to confirm whether there is oil underneath.

Finally, to confirm beyond any dot of doubt, petroleum engineers will drill small wells deep into the ground and the discovery of black sticky liquid in good quantity would call this a successful oil exploration.

Written by Abet Tonny, a Freelance Science Writer in Uganda.


Sources:
1. Uganda oil timeline
2. Uganda Petroleum Authority
3. Environment: Science behind the stories

Oil Exploitation Activities Shrinking Wildlife Diversity in Murchison Park, New Research

Recently; Tourists crossing Murchison Falls

By Abet Tonny

“Observed animals’ reactions included avoidance, migration and a few cases of death," reads the major findings of the research continuing that only some limited number of animals on very rare occasions was sighted near sites where oil wells have been drilled, suggesting that oil and gas exploration created unsuitable conditions in their natural habitat. 

The concern about the possible environmental impacts of the oil exploration and drilling activities taking place in the Albertine region of Uganda has been high among environmental scientists and naturalists from near and far. The interest being inspired by lessons from other countries where oil and gas exploitation has and is ongoing. Logically, the blessing of oil extraction often comes with sizable damage to the natural environment due to its invasiveness on land, forests and multitudes of inhabiting wild organisms like the guerrillas, antelopes and birds.

In 2018, three experienced Ugandan scientists: Pius Mbuyo and Lavine Awino with Elizabeth Diamond Kamara as the Lead researcher rolled out to discover the true reality. They were in for a quest to understand the impacts of oil and gas exploration on wildlife in the Albertine Rift species diversity hotspots within Murchison Falls National Park.

The data collection involved both direct observation at four different sites which were approximately 4 km apart and use of interview techniques to unveil the realities. According to the report, 140 respondents were interviewed. Their intriguing findings were recently published in a research report in the African Journal of Environment and Natural Science Research. 

Major highlights from the report

The largest portion of the locals interviewed -57%, were concerned that the visibly of wild animals reduced drastically during and after oil exploration. However, the other 35% of the respondents were rather happy that after the oil exploration and onset of drilling, some more animals have been attracted to the area thus raising the numbers of different animal species higher above the previous.

In their conclusion, “Maintaining the Conservation & Tourism Value of Protected Areas in Petroleum Development Zones of the Albertine Rift should be treated with great importance,” the scientists emphasized.

The oil and gas exploration in Uganda has reached the production phase. Yet it should be appreciated that the event is operational in an ecologically sensitive and biodiversity hotspot area -the Albertine Rift which houses the precious Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP).

A previous survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) showed that MFNP is one of the richest in species diversity of great economic importance. Of the valuable animal, bird, and species in MFNP, there are a number of them about to go extinct.

The last year 2018, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics revealed that Uganda received 1.8 million tourists in 2018, up from 1.4 million in 2017. In 2017, the 1.4 million arrivals injected about $1.4billion into the economy. Additionally, the sector contributes at least 592,500 jobs to the country’s nationals. Conservation and preservation of nature are the primary tools to guarantee the future of the tourism industry.

Naturalists, however, argue that the importance of nature should be viewed beyond the limited angle of economic return or tourism; but that the preservation of nature is a moral obligation that one generation secures the species diversity for the forthcoming one. But whether some activities of the ongoing lucrative oil and gas business should be limited for the sake of wild animals and plants is the never-ending debate issue.