Uganda's cabinet has granted approval for a bill that would enable the state-owned oil company, Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), to procure and distribute oil within the domestic market.

Pending parliamentary approval, this bill would replace the existing practice of importing oil through Kenyan distributors.

Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa on Tuesday said that the change aims to "improve the security of supply of petroleum products to the country".

She criticised the existing arrangement with Kenya, saying that "it exposed Uganda to occasional supply vulnerabilities where Ugandan oil marketing companies were considered secondary whenever there were supply disruptions", subsequently raising oil prices in Uganda.

Uganda, being a landlocked nation, currently relies on the import of over 90% of its fuel through Kenya's Mombasa port, with the remainder arriving via Tanzania's Dar es Salaam port, as noted by Ms. Nankabirwa.

Furthermore, the Energy Minister revealed that Uganda has reached an agreement with the Bahrain-based energy firm, Vitol Bahrain EC. This deal entails Vitol Bahrain EC financing Uganda National Oil Company's efforts to procure and distribute oil.

Additionally, Uganda plans to bolster its fuel reserves within Tanzania and within the country itself, including the construction of a storage facility in Mpigi, located in central Uganda.