Uganda minister of Energy Irene Muloni said on monday that the ministry had finalised the talks with oil companies and was set to sign the memorandum of understanding.

The companies are expected to explore and clear the way for the country to start commercial crude oil productions.

These companies include Britain’s Tullow oil, France’s total and state owned China national Offshore Oil Corp.

Uganda has 3.5 billion barrels of oil reserves but production is not expected to start until 2016 as per the minister.

The watchdog group Global Witness says Uganda’s oil sector “has been characterized by a lack of transparency” as exploration deals have been “done behind closed doors.” It adds “it is not currently possible to track payments into government budgets.”