A worker at the Ngamia 3 oil exploration site, run by Tullow, in Nakukulas village, Turkana. PHOTO | FILE
Tullow Oil has ended the standoff with
local communities in Turkana that saw the seizure of the British
explorer’s assets including wells.
The locals forcibly
took over its site in early June following demands for more jobs and
other benefits, highlighting the challenge of managing local
expectations of swift returns as Kenya builds an oil and gas industry
from scratch.
Tullow oil confirmed that none of its property had been damaged in the standoff.
“The
labour dispute has been resolved with the Nakukulas community and we
have access to the sites. No Tullow assets were vandalised. The sites
are inactive so no interference,” the explorer wrote in an email
response.
Tullow had written to Turkana County
Commissioner on June 28 after its staff were denied access to three of
its sites including one with 40,000 barrels of oil stored in tanks for
early exports.
The takeover happened on June 10 with police at the local Lokwamosing station doing little to ease the standoff.
The
siege saw blockade of Nakukulas Community Resource Centre, a facility
built by Tullow as a point for stakeholder engagement.
Tullow was also blocked from accessing Ngamia 3 and
Ngamia 8 sites-- which have active drilled oil wells, assorted water
pumping equipment and a deep water reservoir.
“Kindly
acknowledge that the company cannot bear liability for any loss,
accident, incident or environmental deterioration on account of its lack
of access and control of the sites,” Tullow told the County
Commissioner in June 28 letter.
Last
week, the company said its exploration and appraisal campaign in Kenya
had progressed to schedule in 2017 with two new discoveries made.
Kenya
in June 29 said it was delaying plans to start crude oil production and
exports until the government passes an amended law that includes
setting out how revenues will be shared between national and county
governments and local communities.
The law is expected to be in place by late September, when a new Senate and National Assembly convene after August 8 elections.
Kenya
announced plans last year to start small-scale production in June 2017,
involving trucking about 2,000 barrels a day to the Coast. The
government said this was not expected to generate any profit.
Kenya
has an estimated 750 million barrels of recoverable reserves in onshore
fields, but no pipeline to take the waxy crude from the northwest to an
export terminal on the East coast.
“We are ready to resume Early oil Pilot scheme trucking whenever the government gives us the go ahead to do so,” Tullow said.
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