Kenya Strikes Oil For First Time In History
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The East African nation of Kenya could soon join the ranks of oil-producing countries in the world after Anglo-Irish oil giant Tullow Oil made the nation’s first ever oil discovery in the northwest region of Turkana.
Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki announced the discovery on Monday after receiving confirmation from Tullow about the economic viability of the oil find.
“Our country has made a major breakthrough in oil exploration,” said Kibaki to a press conference in the capital of Nairobi.
The East African nation of Kenya could soon join the ranks of oil-producing countries in the world after Anglo-Irish oil giant Tullow Oil made the nation’s first ever oil discovery in the northwest region of Turkana.
Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki announced the discovery on Monday after receiving confirmation from Tullow about the economic viability of the oil find.
“Our country has made a major breakthrough in oil exploration,” said Kibaki to a press conference in the capital of Nairobi.
[quote]”This is the first time Kenya has made such a discovery and it’s a very good news for our country, ” added Kibaki, as quoted by AFP.[/quote]According to a statement by Tullow Oil, the discovery found more than 20 metres of “net oil pay” in Turkana, which industry experts use as a jargon to measure to viability of an oil project.
Tullow added that the discovery exceeded all their expectations, particularly as prospecting by China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation from 2006 to 2010 had yielded no commercially viable results.
“Following this discovery the outlook for further success has been significantly improved,” said the company in a separate report cited by AFP.
“To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material program ahead of us,” noted the company’s exploration director Angus McCoss in a statement on Tullow’s website.
Kibaki though cautioned that the discovery would not necessarily mean instant profits for the country, particularly as more work needed to be done in order to ensure that the oil field’s maximum potential could be reached.
[quote]”It is the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which typically takes in excess of three years. We shall be giving the nation more information as the oil exploration process continues,” said the Kenyan President.[/quote]Kenya’s energy minister Kiraitu Murungi added that the government was determined to ensure that the rewards from the oil find would not be just confined to a few individuals.
[quote]“We will make sure that the oil in Kenya is a blessing for the people of Kenya and not a curse,” said Murungi, in a clear reference to other African nations whose people have remain mired in poverty despite having struck oil.[/quote]Kenya is the largest economy in East and Central Africa according to GDP. The country is set to introduce new tax breaks for companies exploring for oil and gas in a new law that is expected to provide relief to explorers in the region’s biggest economy, said a recent report by Reuters.
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