Two days after Tullow Oil announced its plans to completely shut down operations in Turkana if the unrests in the region will not stop, it is now emerging that the taxpayer is losing one million shillings per day.
According to the Petroleum and Mining Cabinet Secretary John Munyes, the current stalemate in the region has led to the disruption of Early Oil Scheme (EOPS) and that the taxpayer was paying heavily for that.
Locals in Turkana are protesting the failure by the company to employ locals and the government for failing to provide them with security.
At the moment, the country is said to have lost 300 million shillings, with the figure set to hit 400 million shillings in the next two weeks.
The ministry of Mining says that it has been in discussion with the local leaders and that a MoU was underway to restore peace in the region.
Tullow Oil Plc
Tullow Oil Plc has already announced that it will be closing shop in Turkana if the current stalemate will continue in the next two weeks.
Tullow said that it had enough supplies set to run its Kapese Integrated Operation Base for the next 14 days after which they will have no option but to completely shut down the camp.
The Fading Glory
If the stalemate in Turkana will continue, the glory that Kenya had started receiving will start to fade away. Kenya had set history as the first country in East Africa to export her own oil.
While launching the first ever transport of oil from Lokichar to Mombasa, President Uhuru Kenyatta had described the moment as ‘a historical moment that is not only for Kenya but in the whole region.’ He cautioned those engaged in making the region insecure saying that the government would be firm on them.