Tanzania is looking to Uganda’s oil-sector quality-control system as it develops its own framework for verifying the quality of equipment and services used in upstream petroleum operations.
A delegation from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and Tanzania’s Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA) is in Uganda for a benchmarking engagement with the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) and the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).
The engagement is focused on Uganda’s Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme for oil and gas, under which equipment and services destined for petroleum exploration and production operations are verified against applicable standards before being deployed.
The programme forms part of Uganda’s broader quality assurance framework for the petroleum sector and is intended to ensure that equipment and services meet required standards before use.
Joel Tumwebaze, PAU Manager for Health and Safety, said Uganda’s experience could help Tanzania establish a comparable system.
“Uganda has built a rigorous system to ensure the equipment and services entering the petroleum sector meet the required standards. We are glad to share that experience as Tanzania develops its own,” Tumwebaze said.
For Tanzania, the engagement comes as the country works to strengthen quality controls in its upstream petroleum sector.
Eng. Gervas Kaisi, Imports and Exports Control Manager at TBS, said Tanzania is drawing on Uganda’s experience in designing and implementing its own quality assurance mechanism.
“Uganda has developed a practical model for verifying the quality of equipment and services entering the petroleum sector. The lessons from this engagement will help shape how Tanzania builds its own quality assurance mechanism,” Kaisi said.
Deus Mubangizi, UNBS Deputy Director for Compliance, said the verification system provides assurance that equipment and services used in petroleum operations conform to applicable standards before they are deployed.
“The programme gives assurance that goods and services used in the sector conform to the required standards before they are deployed. This engagement allows us to share the systems we have put in place,” Mubangizi said.
The quality assurance framework is particularly important in oil and gas operations, where substandard equipment can create safety, environmental and operational risks.
Charles Nyangi, Head of Local Content and Stakeholder Engagement at PURA, said Tanzania’s interest in Uganda’s experience is intended to strengthen the country’s own regulatory capacity.
“Strong quality control is essential to safe and efficient oil and gas exploration and production operations. Uganda’s experience offers valuable insights as Tanzania prepares its own framework,” Nyangi said.
The Tanzanian delegation will also undertake field visits to Uganda’s major oil and gas projects to assess how the quality assurance framework is applied in practice.
The delegation will visit the Tilenga project in Buliisa and Nwoya districts, the Kingfisher project in Kikuube District and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which begins at Kabaale in Hoima District.
The engagement comes as Uganda and Tanzania deepen cooperation in the petroleum sector, including through EACOP, which will transport Uganda’s crude oil to the Tanzanian port of Tanga for export.
Beyond the bilateral engagement, the exchange points to a broader push for greater harmonisation of petroleum standards and regulatory practices in East Africa as countries seek to develop oil and gas resources while maintaining safety, environmental and operational standards.
Uganda’s Petroleum Authority said the engagement reflects its efforts to share regulatory experience with regional partners and support the development of safe, competitive and well-regulated petroleum sectors across East Africa.