Kamau Macharia
The Turkana oil project might continue experiencing disruptions in the
absence of a legal framework and institutions to oversee the activities
in Kenya, a report has said.
The report contained in the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies’
quarterly journal has warned that differences between exploration firms
and the host community might in future stall works at the Lokichar oil
fields and
derail the country’s oil development plans.
“There is a risk of recurring conflict as the oil industry moves to a
production phase where increased opportunities are generated, resulting
in political realignments,” said Charles Wanguhu, coordinator of the
Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas in a segment of the report
on some of the challenges that the Kenyan project has faced.
The project is this year entering a critical stage, with Tullow Oil and
its partners (Total and Africa Oil) expected to commit resources to
start the commercial phase and start production by 2022.
SEE ALSO :Tullow embarks on paying dividends to shareholders
The
Lokichar oil fields have experienced major stoppages since oil was
discovered in 2012 owing to differences between Tullow Oil, the operator
of the oil blocks, and the community, and have had the impact of
slowing down works.
The biggest was experienced last year when the company had to suspend
operations, including trucking of crude oil to Mombasa under the Early
Oil Pilot Scheme.
The report noted that while there had been agreements between the
company and the community in previous instances, they were usually
stop-gap measures that merely resolved the problems at hand.
It added that temporary solutions in which oil companies offered new
jobs and contracts to local businesses without the development of a
genuine governance system could delay but not prevent the next
disruption.
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