Kenya To Evacuate Oil Before 2030 Due To Climate Change Deal

 

Energy CS Davis Chirchir speaks at the Africa Energy Forum on June 23, 2023. PHOTO | COURTESY

By Faizal Ahmed

The government is racing against time to extract oil from the Turkana oil fields with the hopes of the entire project pegged on a field development plan to assess the viability and profitability of the whole project.

According to Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, the report being undertaken by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) will be ready by end of August and will give the government a clear roadmap on what to do next.

“We are banking on the FDP to give us a clear picture of how we are going to move forward with this project and if we are going to get any profits at the end of the venture,” said the CS.

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Chirchir further stated that the government is operating on a limited time period as Kenya is one of the signatories to the Paris climate agreement that will prevent it from exploring non-renewable energy by 2030.

He also stated that they will need Ksh.1 trillion to undertake the project which will be an uphill task given that two of the 3 partners in the venture have already folded.

“It’s very hard to get approvals for a green project and given the limited time line that we are operating in, the only way that we can get the money to do this is if the oil we are going to get will be significant in volumes,” he said.

The CS was speaking during a meeting with the leadership of Turkana County for an update on the oil project where they expressed their expectations of the project.

Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai said: “We want the issues of land that have been there before to be resolved before the process starts so that the people of Turkana are not disenfranchised.”

This comes as British exploration firm Tullow Oil has assumed full ownership of the Kenya crude project in Turkana after its joint venture partners Africa Oil Corp and total energies exited.