Oil: tackling ecological risks in Uganda’s Albertine Graben
by GEOFREY SERUGO · The ObserverAs Uganda gears up for its first oil production in 2025, balancing economic development with environmental preservation remains the biggest challenge.
Since 2017, environmental activists have consistently opposed the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, citing grave ecological concerns. Demonstrations targeting the Parliament of Uganda, TotalEnergies, and CNOOC offices in Kampala have been staged to raise awareness about the environmental risks posed by the oil project.
With ongoing innovation in waste management and conservation practices, Uganda aims to achieve sustainable oil production while safeguarding the Albertine Graben’s unique biodiversity for future generations.
The Albertine Graben region, home to Uganda’s vast oil reserves, has 6.5 billion barrels of oil, of which 1.4 billion are technically recoverable, according to the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU). Despite the discovery of oil in 2006, the government insists on sustainable utilization of these resources to benefit Ugandans, guided by the 2008 National Oil and Gas Policy.
Ecological risks
Like other infrastructure developments, oil exploration disrupts animal habitats and migratory pathways. Risks such as oil spills during drilling and pipeline failures pose significant threats to ecosystems and communities reliant on them.
The EACOP area was once home to diverse wildlife, including snakes and antelopes, while the Tilenga project within Murchison Falls National Park is habitat to elephants, chimpanzees, and other species.
Conservation efforts and environmental safeguards
Derick Katussiime from the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), said in a bid to conserve the environment they could not drill every location of the well; they drill vertically, and when they reach down, they drill horizontally to connect other wells around to one well pad.
He ruled out any spilling on the ground, noting that all the mud cuttings are brought through a riser tube. They are taken through a separation process before liquid waste is packed in the vacuum containers while the solids are packed in skips and transported to a waste management facility.
As of September 2024, 76 wells of the 98 wells targeted for this year have so far been drilled at the Tilenga project. The Tilenga project has 426 wells, which will be drilled across 31 well pads, of which 10 are in Murchison Falls National Park.
Anita Kemigisha, a junior engineer at the Kingfisher project, noted that Lake Albert is sixty meters deep, they start horizontal drilling after 300 meters, and they don’t encounter or interfere with the waters of the lake. The move is aimed at conversing with the lake.
“We have well-serviced equipment to ensure that it is up-to-date and maintained. There is a blowout preventer system to ensure that there is no flow to the surface,” she said.
The Kingfisher project comprises 31 wells, which will be drilled on four well pads. So far, six wells have been drilled at the project. Uganda has undertaken significant measures to mitigate environmental risks. Tools like the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the Albertine Graben and new laws addressing petroleum waste management, climate change, and oil spills were introduced to minimize harm.
Key efforts include:
Wildlife Translocation: Wildlife encountered during project activities is relocated to safe reserves, such as Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve, to prevent harm to both animals and communities.
Minimized Disruption: Contractors perform environmental surveys before deploying, ensuring minimal impact on biodiversity. For instance, habitats critical for breeding or hatching are avoided until animals mature or relocate.
Waste Management: Reusable materials are prioritized, and waste is tracked from project sites to approved disposal facilities in Luwero and Bugolobi.
Monitoring noise and light pollution: Generators and equipment are soundproofed to reduce stress on wildlife and surrounding communities. Low-impact lighting is used near water bodies to minimize disruption to aquatic life.
Katusiime said they have guidelines and mechanics to reduce noise pollution, and all the equipment, like generators at the various well pads, is soundproof.
“The maximum noise you can hear is about 60 decibels, which is less than the traffic in Kampala. The community is not even affected by the noise that is coming from the operations. We also monitor noise daily, and when the equipment is found exceeding the limit, the mechanics are always on the ground to fix it,” he said.
Kemigisha said the Kingfisher project being at the shores of the lake, they installed six silent generators to power the rig, and the yellow lights don’t scare away the fish or affect the eyes of fishermen.
Oil spill contingency plan: A National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) was launched in 2022 to ensure preparedness and response mechanisms to protect ecosystems in case of spills.
Innovations in oil drilling
Established to manage waste arising from the oil drilling process, the $12 million (Shs 44 billion) HBP Waste Management Facility operated by National Enterprise Corporation (NEC) receives four kinds of waste, which include oil-contaminated liquid waste, oil-contaminated solid waste, oil-free liquid waste, and oil-free solid waste.
Due to the terrain in the area, control of weight, and managing the environment, the solid waste is transported in skips while the liquid waste is transported in vacuum tracks. According to Andrew Miwanda, a landfill engineer, each waste is a weight for management; in the case of an accident, the facility may have a quantity of material that it can easily safeguard and collect before it affects the environment.
Upon taking measurements at the weighbridge, solid waste contaminated with oil is taken through a thermodesorption unit, which uses heat to raise the temperature of the waste. Once the temperature reaches around 600 degrees Celsius, all the oil and the water are separated from the solids.
Miwanga said the oil and water are collected in the tanks while the solids are packed and dumped in an engineering landfill, and water is recycled, treated, and used in the cooling process of the machinery. The oil is sent back for reuse in the drilling processes.
The facility comprises an engineered landfill whose construction was guided by the NEMA regulations. It consists of a liner that goes all right around it, five layers from the top, a compacted marrum, high-density plastic, clay, sand, and another compacted marrum.
Designed to take 52,000 metric tonnes of waste, the landfill is aimed at ensuring that the disposed waste material is kept for 100 years without risking the contamination of groundwater or escaping to affect the surrounding areas. Restricted to handle drilling mud cuttings, the landfill has handled 22,000 metric tonnes of solid waste and 530 cubic meters of liquid waste and slurries since its commissioning in May 2023.
“Even if the landfill is filled up, we have a decommissioning plan whereby we close the top and continue monitoring it for 30 years to ensure that their status does not change over time, which will create the environmental and health risks,” he said.
“We are exploring ways to repurpose the treated waste. We are partnering with higher institutions of learning and researchers to make sure that we can safely transform into valuable materials rather than digging more landfills,” he said.
“The synthetic-based mud cutting can’t be turned into manure because they are burnt up to 600 degrees Celsius. They become inert, and all the nutrients are completely removed because, at that temperature, we want to make sure that all the oil is out.”
Bashir Hangi, head of communication at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), emphasized the measures taken to regulate oil activities in protected areas. For example, noise-reduction technologies and flaring-free operations were adopted to reduce stress on wildlife.