Uganda Government Releases Oil Deals To Parliament - Lawmaker

The Ugandan government Friday released copies of oil sharing deals with private companies operating in the country that it had kept for years as a closely guarded secret, a lawmaker told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

Copies of the deals were presented to the parliamentary library Friday following months of pressure from civil society organizations and lawmakers, according to Henry Banyezaki, the head of Uganda's parliamentary forum on oil and gas.

"It's a very big step forward as far as transparency in the oil sector is concerned," he said. "Ugandans can now access these agreements and know what they stand to benefit from the oil discoveries."

In the past the government has declined to release the deals, citing confidentiality clauses.

Campaigners have in the past said the government's secret dealings with oil companies could turn the recently discovered oil reserves in the Lake Albertine rift into a curse.

Oil companies with deals in Uganda include U.K.-based Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN), Dominion Petroleum Ltd. (DPL.LN) and Neptune Ltd., a unit of London-listed Tower Resources PLC. (TRP.LN).

The details of the deals include the modalities on the sharing of oil between government and companies upon commencement of production, pricing and taxation issues.

Winnie Ngabirwe, the head of Publish What You Pay in Uganda, a group that has been campaigning for transparency in the oil sector, said the release was long overdue.

"We are now going to scrutinize the contents of these agreements and present our response to government very soon," she said.

Uganda has discovered at least 1 billion barrels of oil along its western border with Congo. In March the government approved a joint venture deal with Tullow, China's CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and French oil major Total SA (TOT) for the development of oil fields in the three blocks.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75-2624615 [e-mail]