13
A Critical Intertemporal Analysis
of Uganda’s Fiscal Regime in the Energy
Transition Era: Are Uganda’s Upstream
Projects Still Viable?
Ayebare Rukundo Tom
13.1 Introduction
The oil and gas sector still has a significant role to play in African countries in this energy transition era. Fossil fuels are not only crucial in
tackling the energy access challenges in Africa but they are also key in the
economic development of these resource-rich countries (Nalule 2018).
While countries in the different parts of the globe are moving towards
a low-carbon economy, Uganda is focused on developing its oil and gas
sector. Nevertheless, the country has various renewable energy projects
but this chapter will focus on the upstream projects.
The sharp increase in the oil price from $34.75 per barrel in March
2003 to $156.62 per barrel in 2008 led to several expropriations of
assets owned by International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the introduction of windfall taxes (Rühl 2008; Stroebel and Van Benthem 2013).
These occurred at varying levels in Algeria, Bolivia, China, Russia and
A. R. Tom (B)
Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Entebbe, Uganda
© The Author(s) 2021
V. R. Nalule (ed.), Energy Transitions and the Future
of the African Energy Sector,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56849-8_13
397
A Critical Intertemporal Analysis
of Uganda’s Fiscal Regime in the Energy
Transition Era: Are Uganda’s Upstream
Projects Still Viable?
Ayebare Rukundo Tom
13.1 Introduction
The oil and gas sector still has a significant role to play in African countries in this energy transition era. Fossil fuels are not only crucial in
tackling the energy access challenges in Africa but they are also key in the
economic development of these resource-rich countries (Nalule 2018).
While countries in the different parts of the globe are moving towards
a low-carbon economy, Uganda is focused on developing its oil and gas
sector. Nevertheless, the country has various renewable energy projects
but this chapter will focus on the upstream projects.
The sharp increase in the oil price from $34.75 per barrel in March
2003 to $156.62 per barrel in 2008 led to several expropriations of
assets owned by International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the introduction of windfall taxes (Rühl 2008; Stroebel and Van Benthem 2013).
These occurred at varying levels in Algeria, Bolivia, China, Russia and
A. R. Tom (B)
Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Entebbe, Uganda
© The Author(s) 2021
V. R. Nalule (ed.), Energy Transitions and the Future
of the African Energy Sector,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56849-8_13
397