National Oil, American firm finish survey of Lamu oil blocks

National Oil Corporation of Kenya and Schlumberger, a Houston-based firm, have finished carrying out seismic surveys on the Lamu offshore blocks with a view to estimating how much oil and gas Kenya’s coastline may have.

The survey has been going on for three months.

National Oil chief executive Sumayya Hassan-Athmani said the data on blocks L21 to L28 will enable the Energy ministry and National Oil to draft better contracts with potential explorers.

“The availability and interpretation of such data by Kenya broadens and deepens the understanding of the offshore potential, which is necessary prior to negotiating an agreement with oil companies or operator,” said Ms Hassan-Athmani.

National Oil contracted Schlumberger in April and the decision was made to jointly do the seismic surveys to share costs in the risky venture.

“The benefit of such an approach is that the costs of the survey are shared between the companies involved. This has the effect of reducing the exploration costs not only for companies but also for the government since such costs are recoverable if petroleum is discovered,” said Ms Hassan-Athmani.

The Energy ministry and National Oil also stand to recover some of the exploration costs by selling the data to other companies.

Camac Energy, a US firm that is prospecting for oil on blocks L27 and L28, had earlier said it had acquired seismic data on the offshore blocks from Schlumberger.

“Further, Camac Energy acquired 2D seismic covering offshore Blocks L27 and L28 in March 2014. These survey results are currently being processed by WesternGeco, a division of Schlumberger,” said the firm in September when it gave an update.

The data will then determine if additional work such as drilling will begin.

Camac has set aside Sh3 billion for drilling on its blocks, which also include L1B and L16 in Garissa County.

While most of the exploration work has been on the onshore blocks, catalysed by Tullow Oil which has struck a series of successful wells on its northern Kenya blocks, there is growing interest in offshore blocks.

Tullow so far has drilled 11 wells out of which eight have been fruitful.

The UK firm plans to drill another eight by the end of 2015 but in the meantime it said that some locals will lose out on jobs as some of the activities are coming to an end.

But other people will be hired in the new areas where it plans to explore.

The firm employs between 2,000 and 2,500 employees in any given month.