Politics and policy
Energy principal secretary Joseph Njoroge speaks during a media briefing
at Harambee House on his ministry’s achievements in the past one year
on Tuesday. Photo/Evans Habil
By BD REPORTER
In Summary
- Approval of sites had been delayed until appropriate law comes into force.
The Energy ministry will not wait for a new law to gazette and offer investors seven oil exploration blocks.
Energy and Petroleum principal secretary Joseph Njoroge said on Tuesday that new oil blocks will be licensed in coming months.
The ministry had delayed licensing of the new
exploration blocks until a new law — which was to be sent to Parliament
by June — comes into force.
“We will offer the new blocks hopefully before the
end of the financial year (June) based on the current law. We can’t
wait longer,” said Mr Njoroge while briefing the media alongside other
Cabinet Secretaries on achievements and future plans of their
ministries.
“We are losing every day as we wait yet we have
discovered oil. The entire country will be very busy as we invite
serious prospectors,” said Mr Njoroge.
Oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya by Britain’s
Tullow Oil, and gas deposits found off Tanzania and Mozambique shores,
have turned east Africa into a frontier for hydrocarbon exploration.
In Kenya, findings by Tullow and its partner
Africa Oil Corp in the northwest of the country have increased inquiries
from others seeking exploration blocks.
Mr Njoroge said that their were 46 blocks and 41 had already been licensed to 22 international operators.
“We are putting in place plans to acquire more technical data in the licensed blocks,” said the minister.
Smaller players such as Cove, Origin Oil,
Pancontinental and Lion Energy, who had dominated Kenya’s prospecting
scene for years, have been quietly exiting in recognition of the change
in the balance of power in favour of big players like France’s Total and
US majors Anadarko and Apache.
In an earlier update, Tullow and Africa Oil
doubled the estimate of their discoveries in the South Lokichar basin to
600 million barrels.
Consultants Hunton & Williams and Challenge
Energy — employed to help review the law — have recommended that the Act
includes clearly defined policies for upstream, midstream and
downstream sections to avoid overlaps and reduce inefficiency.
It is also expected to provide guidelines on natural gas exploitation, not adequately covered under existing law.
No comments :
Post a Comment