Kenya is shipping samples of natural gas recently discovered in
rural Kajiado to the US for laboratory tests, Energy ministry officials
said.
State-owned National Oil, which owns the
exploration bloc where the gas was found, said the decision was made
after preliminary surveys established that the area has gas deposits.
National
Oil said it had contracted American oil and gas logistics giant
Weatherford to analyse the samples, and if confirmed, pave the way for
drilling of wells.
The State firm last week said it
had completed seismic tests in the area – a process that involves
picking surface vibrations to reveal the rock formations holding oil or
gas.
“We did the seismic or geological x-ray last week
and generated data that is being taken to foreign labs for analysis and
interpretation,” Petroleum principal secretary Andrew Kamau said.
The US tests are expected to establish the nature of the gas, quantity available and a possible presence of oil in the area.
East
Africa does not have a laboratory facility for such tests, prompting
Kenya to seek the services from the US. Workers sinking a borehole
discovered the inflammable gas after they struck a fissure with hissing
sound and confirmed its burning property by lighting a match stick.
The drillers contracted by a farmer, Joseph Melonye, had dug 200 metres in search of water for his livestock.
The
discovery has raised expectation that Kenya could soon rival
neighbouring Tanzania, which struck huge reserves of natural gas it is
using to generate cheaper electricity.
Kenya has also
discovered deposits of natural gas in Hadado, Wajir, whose extraction is
yet to begin. National Oil deployed a team of geoscientists to the
Kajiado site with the backing of Swiss inspection firm SGS to gather
samples and prepare a report.
Mr Kamau said that
should the tests confirm availability of commercial deposits, the
government would invite other developers in a joint venture arrangement
to inject capital and technical expertise needed to extract and process
the gas. Kenya has mapped out 63 oil and gas exploration blocks, part of
which is held by National Oil.
The Kajiado gas
discovery has left Kipeto village residents anticipating a spike in land
prices and improved fortunes. Oil exploration has been going on in
Kajiado West Constituency - around Lake Magadi – with no reported
success so far.
Kenya
last year announced plans to convert a number of geothermal drilling
rigs for oil exploration as it eyes more oil and gas finds.
Energy
ministry officials said they had opened discussions that will see the
Geothermal Development Company (GDC) transfer some rigs to National Oil
for exploration.
“National Oil is arranging for
shipment of some more samples to other internationally accredited
geochemical laboratories, for purposes of undertaking isotope analysis
to determine the source of the gas,” the company said in a statement.
“Such
facilities are currently unavailable locally. However, National Oil is
in the process of setting up a specialised laboratory that will allow us
to conduct such tests and other more complex analyses.”
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