Tullow to resume oil exploration in Turkana tomorrow

Oil exploration in Ngamia 1 in Turkana County. Tullow Oil has announced it will resume exploratory work in Nothern Kenya tomorrow. Photo/FILE 

By Mugambi Mutegi

In Summary

• Tullow Oil has announced it will resume exploratory work in Northern Kenya tomorrow
• On October 27, Tullow Oil, which has to date announced four oil deposit finds, was forced to suspend operation in Block 10BB and Block 13 following protest by Turkana South and Turkana East residents and their leaders

Tullow Oil has announced it will resume exploratory work in Northern Kenya tomorrow, almost two weeks after it suspended operations in two of its blocks following protests by area residents demanding jobs.

The oil explorer has pledged to employ more locals as its operations expand, after it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy following dialogue with the national and county government and local leaders.

On October 27, Tullow Oil, which has to date announced four oil deposit finds, was forced to suspend operation in Block 10BB and Block 13 following protest by Turkana South and Turkana East residents and their leaders.

Tullow Oil soon after released a statement claiming that 800 of its 1,400 employees -- 57 per cent --Kenya staff were from the Turkana area.

“The MoU clearly lays out a plan for the Government of Kenya, county government, local communities in Northern Kenya and Tullow to work together inclusively over the long-term and to ensure that operations can continue without disruption in the future,” Tullow said in a statement.

“As Tullow’s exploration campaign progresses and gathers pace, the number of local employees and local companies involved in our work will continue to grow.”

Economists viewed the suspension of oil exploration by Tullow as a deterrent to investors saying the move risked derailing the country’s quest for commercial oil production.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretary-general Mukhisa Kituyi, who was speaking to parliamentarians in Nairobi last week, cautioned that on-going tussles over county boundaries and resources could hamper foreign direct investments.

Tullow has operations on five blocks including 10A, 10BA, 10BB, 13T, 12A and 12B. It is also a non-operated partner in off-shore block L8 where American oil exploration company Apache Corporation is the operator.

With the prospective of Kenya joining the coveted league of oil-producing countries looking more assured, focus is shifting to the need of developing key infrastructures required to exploit and move the reserves to markets.

Last year, the government said it planned to build a pipeline linking the port of Lamu to the oil fields in Turkana.

This pipeline was then to extend to South Sudan and Moyale under the Lamu Port and Southern Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset) project.

The Lapsset project entails construction of a new sea port at Manda and a standard gauge railway lines from Lamu to South Sudan with branches to Nairobi and Ethiopia from a hub in Isiolo.