Oil from Turkana is exported by road to the port of Mombasa from where the first load of 250,000 barrels was shipped last year to Singapore fetching Sh1.2 billion.
Revenue from oil will be shared on the basis of 75 percent for all Kenyans through the National Government, 20 percent to the county government of Turkana and five percent will go to the local community.
-Apart from Turkana other exploratory oil drilling activities have been carried out at Lamu’s Pate Island in Lamu County since April 2018 at a cost of Sh 2.5 billion.
By Obegi Malack
obegimalack@gmail.com
The National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) plans to drill oil at its Block 14T in Magadi, Kajiado County next year.
NOCK CEO Morintat Leparan said they are looking for a drilling company to start the exploration by February next year.
“Oil drilling is expensive that is why it is taking long, but we will advertise and get the correct drilling company,” he said.
He said to do one well needs more than Sh3 billion, but they are sourcing for funds before moving into the next phase of zeroing in on the well.
Drilling a very risky business with chances of either striking oil and gas or getting nothing but in most cases countries look for partners to inject cash in exchange of a stake.
Speaking in Kisamis Kajiado West Sub County, the CEO said they had gathered data in an area covering 500 kilometres where they have been operating since 2011.
NOCK has drilled water boreholes in Magadi and erected 10,000 litre tanks to serve the community, build a secondary school, a police post and another school at Nkurman.
The national government corporation also allocated some money to group ranches in the area to fund some of the projects such as irrigation, schools among others.
Earlier, Governor Joseph ole Lenku welcomed the partnerships and challenged NOCK to ensure the community benefits from Corporate Social responsibility.
Tullow Oil, a UK company has been drilling oil in Turkana County since February 2012 with an estimated one billion barrels found in Blocks 10BB and 13T near Lokichar.
Tullow and Toronto-listed Africa Oil, holds a 25 percent stake in the blocks. They first discovered crude oil in the Lokichar Basin in 2012.
The fields contain 560 million barrels and are expected to produce up to 100,000 barrels per day from 2022.
The fields currently produce about 2,000 barrels of oil per day.