Tullow Oil Set To Invest Ksh.7 Billion in Turkana This Year

Tullow oil will be investing 7 billion shillings more this year on developing wells in Turkana County and on their operations as it seeks to start commercial oil production in the next three years.

In an update from the London-based Oil producing company, they will be expanding their operations and investing more in other countries to this year with their total expected expenditure standing at $570 million.

Tullow discovered a total of 1.2 billion barrels of Oil reserves in Turkana county and it continues to transport crude oil, an estimated 600 barrels per day, by road to Mombasa ahead of the planned small-scale exports in the coming months.

“This is expected to increase to 2,000 barrels of oil per day from April 2019. Currently, there are 60,000 barrels of oil stored in Mombasa with a maiden lifting expected in the first half of 2019.”

“Tullow made substantial progress in Kenya in 2018 and continues to target final investment decision (FID) in late 2019 and First Oil in 2022,” the company said.

“This will require several key milestones to be achieved throughout 2019 including land acquisition, commercial frameworks, and contract awards.”

The move to full commercial operations is expected to give a significant revenue boost to State coffers and help diversify the country’s economy.

In late July 2018, Tullow Oil stopped work at its oilfields in Turkana and stopped the trucking operations after protests by the local community disrupted a transport scheme after the deployment of more security forces in the area, which has long been plagued by banditry and cattle rustling.

Following the protests, the company was considering reducing its stake in the project to around 30 percent from 50 percent before the final investment decision.