Kenya's hopes of commercial oil production remains alive after Tullow singled out the country's oil project as one of its key growth areas.
In March 2023, Tullow Kenya BV managing director Madhan Srinivasan submitted an updated Field Development Plan (FDP) to the Kenya government.
The plan aims to develop 470 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) resources and achieve a production rate of up to 120 thousand barrels of oil per day (kbopd).
The firm, which plans to invest more than US$10 million (sh1.4 billion) had received formal notification early this month from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) extending the review period of the updated Field Development Plan (FDP) to June 30, 2024.
"We are collaboratively working with the Government of Kenya as they evaluate the FDP. Once their evaluation is concluded, the FDP will be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum for review before submission to Parliament for final approval," said Madhan.
He said the development has been designed to be robust at lower oil prices, and they will continue discussions with prospective strategic partners for this project.
These options, he said, are being explored with the government and will supplement Tullow’s Full Field Development (FFD) plan for Project Oil Kenya.
The firms full-year results statement and presentation show that Kenya remains a material option to drive value and growth for the company.
Tullow Oil chief executive Rahul Dhir said the plan has so far achieved targeted results and since the end of 2020, the firm has generated over $1.1 billion of free cash flow and reduced net debt by more than 30 per cent.
Tullow generated $170 million of free cash flow, ahead of expectations, and reduced net debt by over $250 million.
Tullow also demonstrated its ability to access long-term funding through the $400 million debt facility agreement with the United Kingdom’s Glencore Energy.
