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Bloomberg
The Democratic Republic of Congo granted Total SA a one-year extension to a license allowing it to explore for oil along the Ugandan border.
Total must meet objectives including developing a drilling program before the new permit expires January 26, 2019, Oil Minister Aime Ngoy Mukena said in a written response to questions. The company is also expected to produce a plan for exporting future oil production via a link to a pipeline that will connect western Uganda’s oilfields to Tanzania’s coast.
The French oil giant acquired an operating interest in Block 3 in eastern Congo in March 2011. Its license, which was supposed to end in January 2016, was initially prolonged by two years before the latest decision by the central African country’s government.
Total has a controlling stake in an oil-exploration project on the Ugandan side of the border, in partnership with China’s Cnooc Ltd. and London-based Tullow Oil Plc. In August, Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s Ugandan unit said it plans to raise $3 billion by the second half of this year for the 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline, which will ship the country’s oil via Tanzania and the Indian Ocean.