A National Oil and Gas Policy for the country was approved by cabinet in 2008. Objectives of the Oil and Gas policy are as follows:
- To ensure efficiency in licensing areas with potential for oil and gas production in the country.
- To establish and efficiently manage the country’s oil and gas resource potential.
- To efficiently produce the country’s oil and gas resources.
- To promote valuable utilization of the country’s oil and gas resources.
- To promote the development of suitable transport and storage solutions which give good value to the country’s oil and gas resources.
- To ensure collection of the right revenues and use them to create lasting value for the entire nation.
- To ensure optimum national participation in oil and gas activities.
- To support the development and maintenance of national skills and expertise.
- To ensure that oil and gas activities are undertaken in a manner that conserves the environment and biodiversity; and
- To ensure mutually beneficial relationships between all stakeholders in the development of a desirable oil and gas sector for the country.
In an effort to operationalize the Policy, a new legislation for the oil and gas administration is underway. In the meantime, the Petroleum, Exploration and Production Act of 1985 and the Petroleum, Production and Exploration regulations of 1993 are being used to regulate the sector.
Under the National Oil and Gas Policy, the Ministry handles the policy aspects, while regulatory and commercial aspects will be handled by Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) and Uganda National Oil Company (NATOIL).