Uganda has appointed global commodities trader Vitol to market its newly branded Pearl Sweet crude, with the country targeting its first exports from early 2027 as its oil infrastructure nears completion.

Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) said Vitol would market the government's and UNOC's allocation of the crude. President Yoweri Museveni formally unveiled the Pearl Sweet name on September 2 during a visit to the Kingfisher Development Area in Kikuube District.

The name combines Uganda's “Pearl of Africa” identity with the petroleum-industry term “sweet”, referring to the crude's relatively low sulphur content. Uganda's Petroleum Authority has put sulphur content at about 0.16% by weight.

“We are here to celebrate and give this baby (oil) a name. These people have told me to name this baby Pearl Sweet Petroleum. We call it sweet because it does not have sulphur. When it has sulphur, it is more expensive to remove the sulphur. This one either has little or no sulphur,” Museveni said, as quoted by UBC.

The Energy Ministry said the broader Kingfisher development was about 80% complete, while facilities required for first oil were 98% ready. Its Central Processing Facility, designed to handle 40,000 barrels a day, has reached mechanical completion and is undergoing commissioning.

Uganda's crude is waxy, with a pour point of about 40°C, meaning it must be heated to remain flowable during transportation. The 1,443-km East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which was 92.7% complete as of August 31, will carry the crude to Tanzania's Tanga port.

CNOOC Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Chinese state-owned oil producer CNOOC Limited (HKEX: 0883), operates Kingfisher, while French energy major TotalEnergies (EPA: TTE) operates the Tilenga project. Together, the two developments are expected to produce up to 230,000 barrels a day at peak output, comprising about 40,000 barrels a day from Kingfisher and 190,000 barrels a day from Tilenga.

Museveni said Uganda should use its petroleum resources to support industrialisation rather than simply export crude.

“The petroleum industry would push us very far,” he said, referring to the planned refinery's potential to produce vehicle fuel, aviation fuel and other petroleum products.

Museveni said Kingfisher's associated gas could generate up to 80MW of electricity, with additional gas used to produce LPG. He also argued that local refining could reduce some export-pipeline and petroleum-import costs.

“When we pump our crude to Tanga, we pay $12.77 per barrel just for transport. When we refine our oil here, we don’t pay that money. We shall no longer spend $2bn importing petroleum,” he is quoted as saying by UBC.

Uganda's planned refinery remains under development, and the cost savings cited by Museveni are government projections rather than realised gains.

Uganda is preparing for commercial oil production, with Kingfisher, Tilenga and EACOP required to operate in coordination before full-scale exports begin. UNOC and Vitol expect the first Pearl Sweet export cargoes from early 2027.