Uganda's ambitious oil-export timetable

The government's keen, the companies are willing—is Uganda's oil boom finally on the way?

After years of delays, Uganda says it wants developers to push ahead post haste with the oil development that could transform the country's economy, setting a 2020 target for first production. But political, technical and financial challenges make that a tough deadline. To get things moving, more than a decade after oil was first discovered around Lake Albert, the government wants a final investment decision on the multi-billion-dollar development by end-2017. France's Total and China's Cnooc are now the project's major players. Once built, the development should produce at least 230,000 barrels a day, most of it going to export markets via pipeline and some to a local refinery. Tullow Oil,