INTERVIEW-Heritage Oil sees Uganda oil production next year

* Sees Tullow wells producing in 2010, Heritage in 2011

* Considering consortium to fund required infrastructure

By Duncan Miriri

MOMBASA, Kenya, March 13 (Reuters) - British explorer Heritage Oil (HOC.TO: Quote) expects oil production to start at Ugandan wells in 2010, a senior company official said on Friday.

Heritage and partner Tullow Oil (TLW.L: Quote) found crude in several wells dug between 2006 and 2008 in the Albertine Basin, which spans Uganda's border with Democratic Republic of Congo.

Energy prospectors are increasingly turning off the beaten path and searching east and central Africa for hydrocarbon deposits, although experts warn the global financial crisis is threatening to stem some of those plans.

"The earliest production could be next year and that is Tullow. They may be producing by 2010 into a small topping plant," Heritage's vice president for exploration and production, Brian Smith, told Reuters in an interview.

"Heritage is hopeful that we can begin production in 2011," he said on the sidelines of a regional oil and gas meeting in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.