PETROLEUM SUPPLY ACT, 2003.

This Act shall come into force on a date appointed by the Minister by statutory instrument*; and different days may be appointed for the commencement of different provisions of this Act.

3. Objectives.

The objectives of this Act are—

(a) to ensure that petroleum supply in Uganda is adequate, reliable, efficient and economical for the country and the consumers according to the prevailing conditions at any given time;

(b) to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Government in order to better formulate and implement petroleum supply policies;

(c) to improve petroleum governance by clarifying the functions of institutions responsible for petroleum supply and to make the operations of those institutions more accountable and transparent;

(d) to ensure public safety and protection of public health and the environment in all petroleum supply operations and installations;

(e) to ensure effective delivery of petroleum products and services to consumers and to ensure equal access to petroleum products of adequate quality at competitive prices for all consumers;

(f) to encourage and promote fair competition within the petroleum supply market, to eliminate discrimination or preferential treatment of any participant and to prevent monopolistic control of any segment of the supply chain;

(g) to create favourable conditions for operators and investors in order to increase the diversification of the sources of supply, to improve services and to expand the infrastructure of the supply chain; and

(h) to ensure a steady supply of petroleum products by the development and maintenance of national strategic stocks.

4. Application.

(1) This Act applies to the import, export, reexport, transport, processing, supply, storage, distribution, wholesale and retail sale and sale to industrial consumers of petroleum products and related activities and installations in Uganda.

(2) The provisions of this Act which relate to petroleum products, as defined in section 5, also apply to natural gas, whether imported or produced in Uganda, including compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

(3) This Act applies to all persons, all departments and other agencies of the Government and all public corporations, subject to specific exemptions as prescribed by regulations.

(4) This Act does not apply to the requirement of any enactment for a permit or a licence for prospecting, exploration, development or production of petroleum in Uganda or the transportation, storage, processing or transformation of that petroleum subject to the conditions of the permit or licence and within the area covered by that permit or licence.

5. Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

"Code of practice" means the code of practice declared as such under section 14 of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Act, 1983, except as otherwise provided in this Act;

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner heading the Department of Petroleum Supply within the Ministry;

"Committee" means the Technical Petroleum Committee established under section 8;

"consumer price index" means the national and consumer price index published by the Uganda National Bureau of Statistics;

"currency point" has the value specified in the First Schedule;

"distribution" means the ownership, operation, management or control of distribution facilities for movement or delivery of petroleum products to consumers;

"Emergency Petroleum Supply Plan" means the Emergency Petroleum Supply Plan approved in accordance with section 34;

"environmental impact assessment" means a systematic examination conducted in accordance with the National Environment Statute, 1995, to determine whether or not a project will have any adverse impact on the environment; and includes environmental reviews, environmental evaluations and environmental impact studies and all related procedures;

"licence" means a petroleum operations licence issued under subsection (2) of section 17;

"licencee" means the holder of a licence;

"Minister" and "Ministry" means respectively, the Minister and the Ministry responsible for petroleum supply;

"national standard" means a standard produced or adopted by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards for use in Uganda in accordance with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Act, 1983;

"National Strategic Stocks" means petroleum products kept in storage in Uganda by or on behalf of the Government under section 35 for purposes of security of supply;

"order" means a written direction issued by the Minister under this Act;

"permit" means a petroleum construction permit issued under subsection (1) of section 17;

"person" includes any individual, firm, company, association, partnership or body of persons, whether incorporated or not;

"petroleum" means any naturally occurring hydrocarbon or mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, whether in gaseous, liquid, or solid state;

"petroleum products" means organic compounds, pure or blended, which are derived from the refining and processing of petroleum, including, but not limited to, the following—

(a) asphalts, bitumens, petroleum coke and other residual products;

(b) bunkers or heavy residual fuel oils for combustion engines or industrial heat processes, such as burners for boilers or heating furnaces;

(c) commercial gases namely, methane, ethane, propane, butane and other similar petroleum gases produced in the refining process, or mixtures of those gases, whether in gaseous or liquefied state;

(d) gas oil or automotive, industrial or marine diesels;

(e) gasolines (petrol) or naphtha products;

(f) kerosene or other similar oils for illumination or combustion applications;

(g) lubricating oils namely base oils and refined and blended finished oils;

(h) turbo fuels for jet propulsion engines; and

(i) other products or by-products of petroleum crude processing having a flash point lower than 120 degrees Celsius, as determined in a Pensky-Martens closed test apparatus;

"petroleum supply operations" means all operations and activities for or in connection with the import, landing, loading, unloading, processing, transport, storage, distribution, wholesale or retail of petroleum products, including the operations of industrial consumers who buy their products directly from importers or wholesalers;

"specifications" has the meaning assigned to it in section 43 of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Act, 1983;

"supply chain" means all operations, activities, installations, equipment and other facilities directly or indirectly related to the petroleum supply operations;

"throughput" means the average amount of product handled or consumed or both;

"working stock" means petroleum products kept in storage in Uganda by participants in the supply chain for trading purposes.

PART II
ADMINISTRATION.

6. Regulatory authority of the Minister.

(1) The Minister shall be responsible for the implementation of this Act.

(2) The Minister shall have the following specific functions in relation to this Act—

(a) to initiate legislation and make the necessary regulations in order to support and promote a continuous, secure and adequate supply of petroleum products at competitive cost for all consumers and to create favourable conditions for the availability of adequate import, transport, storage and distribution facilities within or, if necessary, outside Uganda;

(b) to promote the increase of opportunities for regional petroleum trade and encourage a diversity of supply sources, routes and means of transportation;

(c) to approve by order the Emergency Petroleum Supply Plan prepared by the Commissioner under subsection (1) of section 34;

(d) to appoint the members of the Committee in accordance with section 9; and

(e) perform any other function given to the Minister by this Act.

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