Victoria Motors, a leading Vehicle dealership in Uganda, has handed over the first batch of seven Renault Trucks to EnviroServ Uganda, a waste management services company to manage oil and gas waste.
The handover took place Thursday, at the Victoria Motors assembling yard on 5th Street Industrial Area in Kampala.
In April 2022, EnviroServ was awarded a five-year US $89 million contract to manage all the waste generated during the drilling activities at TotalEnergies E&P’s Tilenga oilfields found in Buliisa and Nwoya districts.
To adequately and safely handle the waste (both liquid and solid) EnviroServ placed an order with Victoria Motors for 34 custom designed trucks worth about US$ 10 million that would be used in the safe transportation of the oil waste from the drilling sites to the treatment and disposal facility in Nyamasoga, Kabaale, Hoima district.
“We are happy to receive the first batch of the trucks today as we continue our preparations to handle the oil waste from the Tilenga project once drilling commences soon,” said Mr Albert Kyaligonza, EnviroServ’s project engineer.
TotalEnergies’ first rig is currently being shipped to Uganda.
EnviroServ’s treatment and disposal facility has the capacity to adequately manage all the oil waste that will be generated from whatever oil activities, Mr Kyaligonza added. Uganda’s petroleum deposits are located in an environmentally sensitive area which hosts the Murchison Falls National Park, hence the need to safely manage the oil waste.
Victoria Motors has since 2013 sourced, supplied and maintained vehicles and equipment for EnviroServ.
Mr Dickson Mwesigwa, the Sales and Marketing Manager, Victoria Motors said driver training will commence on Monday, November 14, 2022 before the trucks are deployed.
“Driver training is part of the maintenance service we offer at Victoria Motors so that the vehicles are maintained in good working condition,” said Mr Mwesigwa, adding that the next consignment of 12 trucks are scheduled to arrive in two months’ time.
The truck drivers will be provided by Epsilon Uganda Ltd, EnviroServ’s transportation partner.
Since the February 1, 2022 announcement of the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the construction of the crude oil export pipeline (EACOP) and the development of the Tilenga and Kingfisher oilfields, activities in the oil and gas industry have been ramped up with 2025 the target for achieving First Oil.
At least $15 billion to $20 billion is expected to be invested in the development phase before the country starts producing oil.
“Today is also an important day for Uganda in general because such capital investment in the Oil & Gas project is needed to help our struggling economy recover,” noted Mwesigwa.