In January of this year, Tullow Oil, an Anglo-Irish exploration firm, announced it had succeeded in finding new sources of petroleum near Uganda’s Lake Albert region. But even with news of this discovery, in the eyes of many in the industry, Tullow remained a small player in the oil market. But virtually overnight, the company has gone from what Britain’s Dailymail described as a “penny stock five years ago” to a powerful performer with a market capitalization of $13.2 billion. And following news of its tenth oil find in Uganda last week, Tullow’s stock prices rose on the European exchanges.

But despite the success and potential flood of revenue to stockholders, the win marks a bittersweet reality of the budding green-age: Petrol power is here to stay.

While Tullow may represent a relatively new player in the oil industry, it is estimated that nearly 700 million barrels of oil could be produced through its wells in the Lake Albert area. Add this to a report in the Economist noting the potential from further exploration, and “the figure could eventually reach billions of barrels. Some speculate that, Congo included, the entire Albertine basin may yield even more than Sudan’s 6 billion barrels of proven reserves.”

And though globally there has been a decided shift away from fossil fuels, much of that remains a function of availability and price – not environmental concerns. Which is to say, that the potential production of Tullow’s sites may have global political implications, as an alternative to the Middle East’s current dominance of the oil market.

Furthermore, the revenue generated for Uganda - one of Africa’s many struggling nations – by Tullow’s purchasing of land rights, could lead to more economic flexibility and prosperity. Uganda will also have access to the new oil, a fact which “could put an end to persistent blackouts and boost local manufacturing, which has withered on unreliable and exorbitantly priced electricity.”

Still, whatever optimism may abound concerning this new source of oil must be tempered with caution. Energy regulators must ensure that the small African nation gets a fair share of whatever is produced and collectively we can’t allow the promise of new resources to dissuade us from moving ahead with cleaner energy solutions.