Uganda’s Energy Minister presented a bill to parliament, aiming to grant exclusive importation rights for petroleum products in the country to Bahraini firm Vitol.

The proposed changes to the petroleum law have already been approved by Uganda’s cabinet.

Historically, the importation and distribution of petroleum products in Uganda have been open to multiple private entities, many of which source products from neighboring Kenya.

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However, the nation’s Ministry of Energy argues that this system has exposed the landlocked country to supply disruptions and resulted in higher fuel prices.

A pre-existing agreement between the state-owned Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and Vitol Energy is already in place.

As part of this agreement, Vitol will supply oil products to UNOC, which, in turn, will sell the products to petrol station operators. The first shipment from Vitol is scheduled to arrive in January.

Nevertheless, some oil marketing companies have criticized the deal, accusing the Ugandan government of attempting to create a monopoly in the petroleum sector.

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In 2022, Uganda imported petroleum products worth $1.6 billion, as reported by the country’s central bank.