Oil explorer Erin secures contract extension
Erin Energy, an oil exploration company that has interests in Lamu Basin, has been given permission by the government to proceed to the next stage of exploration which will include drilling an exploration well by the end of 2017.
The company has four blocks that are located in the Lamu basin and has finished the first stage of work on its onshore blocks.
Erin was also supposed to have finished the first phase of exploration work on its offshore blocks by August 8 but requested the energy ministry to give it a two-year extension.
East Africa: Uhuru and Museveni Strike Deal On Route for Oil Pipeline
Kenya and Uganda have settled on the northern route for the crude oil pipeline that will transport oil from Albertine to Lokichar in Turkana County.
The agreement was made during President Uhuru Kenyatta's state visit to Uganda, where he signed several bilateral agreements with President Yoweri Museveni.
President Kenyatta's spokesman, Mr Manoah Esipisu, said the two leaders agreed that "subject to financing, security guarantees by Kenya, the Hoima-Lokichar-Lamu oil pipeline starts as soon as possible."
Kenya and Uganda map the route of new oil pipeline
Kenya and neighbouring Uganda have agreed on the route of a planned US$4.5bn oil pipeline, the link that will transport crude from companies including Tullow Oil
The pipeline will pass through the Lokichar Basin in northern Kenya, Manoah Esipisu, spokesperson for Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The countries had also discussed building the link through southern Kenya and the capital Nairobi. The agreed design will be the cheapest to develop, according to the spokesperson.
Kenya's First Oil Export Expected in October 2022
Kenya's push to start oil production by 2017 will be delayed by at least five years going by the detailed design and construction timeline for the proposed crude oil pipeline connecting Uganda and local oil fields to Lamu.
The Toyota Tsusho design released yesterday shows that the flow of the first oil is expected in October 2022 at the earliest. This will come after the commissioning of the oil pipeline in the last quarter of 2020.
The design has dashed the hopes of the Kenya government, which had planned to start production by 2017. Tullow Oil Company also announced last month that the firm can only produce the first oil by 2020.
