Kenya discovers oil in Turkana

Written By:Margaret Kalekye/Agencies,    Posted: Mon, Mar 26, 2012

Kenya now joins regional neighbours Uganda and Tanzania in the list of potential oil producing countries. Oil has been discovered in Kenya after exploratory drilling by Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil, President Mwai Kibaki announced on Monday. The discovery was made over the weekend in the country's north-western Turkana region. Mr Kibaki said it was "the first time Kenya has made such a discovery" and called it a "major breakthrough". Kenya is a regional business and tourist hub with the largest economy in East Africa, although its relative wealth is not based on mineral riches. The Kenyan president said Tullow would drill more wells to establish the commercial viability of the oil. "This is the first time Kenya has made such a discovery and it is very good news," Kibaki during the release of government performance contracting results in Nairobi.  "This is the first time Kenya has made such a discovery and it is very good news for our country. It is however the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which technically takes three years", the President said. President Kibaki said the government will give more information as the oil exploration continues adding that the company will have to drill multiple wells to establish commercial viability. Tullow Oil, which also struck oil in neighbouring Uganda, said the Kenyan find had exceeded their expectations. "This is an excellent start to our major exploration campaign in the East African rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia," said Angus McCoss, the company's exploration director. He added: "To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us." Tullow has found oil in, or off the coast of, a number of African countries, including Ghana and Sierra Leone. Kenya had stepped up oil exploration following huge discoveries in neighbouring Uganda, which shares the same oil-latent rocks with Kenya.