President Yoweri Museveni has officially named Uganda’s crude oil “Pearl Sweet Petroleum” as the country moves closer to commercial production.
Museveni unveiled the name on September 2, 2026, at the Kingfisher Development Area in Kikuube District. He also inspected preparations for first oil.
The President described the ceremony as the “christening” of Uganda’s petroleum after years of exploration, investment and training.
“Whatever you sow is what you reap. Now we are here to christen our baby,” Museveni said. “These people have told me that we name it ‘Pearl Sweet Petroleum’.”
Museveni said he first wondered why officials had included the word “sweet” in the name.
“I asked them, does the petroleum contain sugar? Batebe taught me that we call it sweet because it does not contain sulphur, which is hard to extract,” he said, referring to Energy ministry Permanent Secretary Irene Batebe.
In the petroleum industry, crude oil with low sulphur content is described as sweet. Uganda’s crude is also known for its waxy nature.
Museveni said Uganda still has vast areas with potential petroleum resources that remain unexplored.
“This oil is just 40 per cent, the 6.5 billion, here and at Tilenga of the Lake Albert Basin. We still have 60 per cent of this basin to explore,” he said.
“We still have the Karamoja basin, Lake Kyoga basin, and Kiboga.”
The President also warned against spending oil revenue on luxury imports and consumption.
He said the government would channel the money into infrastructure and other long-term investments.
“The money we shall earn, please don't expect to import more perfume, wines and cars. The money will be used to do durable things. To build hydropower stations, the railway and other durable things that will be there for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” Museveni said.
The naming comes as Uganda prepares to join the ranks of oil-producing countries.
Kingfisher, operated by CNOOC Uganda, is one of Uganda’s two main upstream oil projects. The other is Tilenga.
Kingfisher is designed to produce about 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Production from Kingfisher and Tilenga is expected to reach about 230,000 barrels per day at peak output.
Oil meant for export will move from the Lake Albert fields through the East African Crude Oil Pipeline to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast.
