Petroleum PS Andrew Kamau. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya’s Turkana crude oil buyer will be known next week as the
country gears up for its first shipping overseas to test the market.
Petroleum
PS Andrew Kamau said the trucking of crude had gathered its minimum
200,000 barrels in readiness for shipping, which is expected after
mid-August.
“We are now working on the jetty and the
insulated ship loading pipes in readiness for the shipping next month.
We had given the samples to the potential buyers but they have not
concluded yet. We will know their results next week,” he said. Kenya has
been trucking the crude from Lokichar under the Early Oil Pilot Scheme
in partnership with Tullow Oil, Total Kenya and Africa Oil.
The
scheme, which started in July 2018, has been criticised in the past as
loss laded experiment, which is expected to have gobbled billions in
expenses including at least Sh500 million in trucking costs alone as
Kenya plans to build an oil pipeline.
The production
sharing contracts and other agreements between the government and the
British multinationals also remain tightly guarded, although Tullow has
previously stated that they would release the document once the Ministry
of Petroleum allowed them to do so.
The Early Oil
Pilot Scheme is expected to end in March 2021, meaning the trucking will
continue even after the ship leaves with the first consignment of the
crude which is being stored under heated conditions at the Kenya
Petroleum Refineries Limited tanks in Mombasa.
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