REPUBLIC OF UGANDA (MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINERAL DEVELOPMENT Uganda Announces irst Petroleum Exploration Licensing Round 2,938 Km’ of high potential acreage offered for licensing KAMPALA, Uganda, 24” February 2015 - The Government of Uganda (GoU) has today announced the country’s first open competitive licensing round for petroleum exploration. This licensing round will cover six blocks in the Albertine Graben which is a proven prospective sedimentary basin. Eng. Irene Muloni, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development said, “We have an estimated 65 billion barrels of in place petroleum resources from exploration work in less than 40% in the Albertine Graben. However, less than 10% of the Albertine Graben is currently licensed and the six blocks targeted for this maiden licensing round have good data coverage.” The six blocks are; Ngassa (410 Km?) in Hoima District, Taitai & Karuka (S65 Km") in Buliisa District, Ngaji (895 Km’), Rukungiri & Kanungu Districts, Mvule (344 Km?) in Moyo and Yumbe Districts together with Turaco (425 Km’) and Kanywantaba (344 Km?) in Ntoroko District. These blocks have both seismic and well data which were acquired by oil companies previously licensed in these areas. Stratigraphic Licensing will be applicable to some of these blocks. The Government of Uganda has undertaken resource and risk assessment of the areas proposed for licensing, developed a data room and is making available data packages to prospective investors in preparation for this licensing round. Uganda’s first licensing round is guided by the National Oil and Gas Policy for Uganda (2008) and the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act 2013. The announcement follows approval of Cabinet and submission of a report on the Licensing round to Parliament Eng, Muloni added “In line with the g ing principles of our National Oil and Gas Policy, we are committed to a transparent process developing Uganda's oil and gas sector. That is why we have not licensed any new acreage for exploration since 2007. This was to enable us to put in place the required legal, regulatory and institutional framework to ensure an open, efficient and competitive licensing process.” Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development will publish a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the First Licensing Round for Petroleum Exploration in Uganda.The qualified firms from this RFQ will be issued a detailed request for bids together with the Modal Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) for the specific blocks. Companies submitting the best evaluated bid for each of the blocks will proceed to negotiations with Government Prior to signing production sharing agreements. The licensing round is ‘expected to conclude with the award of licenses by the end of 2015. ‘The main objectives of implementing the licensing round are to offer exploration and production investment opportunities in the country’s oil and gas sector, establish and increase the country’s resource base, enhance sustainability of petroleum production and thus contribute to the country’s economy through generating revenue to support other productive sectors of the economy. The Ministry will make available more detailed information on the blocks during the upcoming 7th East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda from 4th to 6th March 2015. Currently, three international oil companies, Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Limited, Total ERP Uganda and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Uganda Limited are licensed in Uganda’s Albertine Graben Twenty one oil and gas discoveries have been made in Uganda to date, four of which were relinquished to government. Appraisal of 17 of the 21 discoveries has been completed. One production license was issued over the Kingfisher field while discussions on applications for production licenses over 15 fields are in advanced stages. ‘The Government of Uganda and the companies currently licensed to undertake Petroleum exploration, development and production in the country has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for commercialization of the discovered resources. This MoU includes development of a 60,000 barrels per day refinery, use of crude oil to generate electricity and export of crude oil. Uganda’s refinery project is being developed on a public private partnership basis. Following 2 competitive process, RT Global Resources led consortium from the Federation of Russia has been selected as the preferred bidder to be lead investor for Uganda's Refinery Project and acquisition of the required land for the development are in final stages. Plans to develop other supportive infrastructure on a national and regional level are also underway. Commercial production is expected to commence in 2018. For more details on the Licensing Project and Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector, visit www.petroleum.£0.Ug ‘media Contac; ‘Commissioner, Petroleum Exploration and Production Department llcensing@petrolgum.£0.