Geochemical analysis of surface samples comprising three seepage oils, two bituminous sandstones and five shales collected from the Ugandan portion of the Albertine graben (a Cenozoic rift basin in Eastern Africa) indicates that the basin may have some petroleum potential. The analyses show that seepage oils from the Kibiro and Paraa localities were derived from Types I or II, source rocks, deposited in semi-deep or deep-water lacustrine environments containing abundant freshwater algae. However, the seepage oil from Kibuku is derived from a Type III source rock. A comparison of the seepage oils and the bituminous sandstones suggests that there are at least two sets of mature or threshold-mature source rocks in the Albertine graben - one in the Upper Tertiary and the other in the underlying (pre-Upper Tertiary) succession. According to molecular indicators of maturity, the Kibiro seepage oil was generated during peak maturation, whereas the Paraa and Kibuku seepage oils are of lower or threshold maturity.