Counties lack staffing and resource capacity to manage hazardous waste from oil and gas exploration activities, a new report has shown.
The Kenya Oil and Gas Working Group (KOGWG) says active exploration activities in counties such as Lamu and Turkana threaten the environment through hazardous waste and expose communities to health risks.
This is due to poor decommissioning after being unable to strike oil or gas or end the commercial life of a mine.
The report also attributed it to a lack of legal framework, staffing and resources in the remote areas at relevant government agencies. Monitoring activities are triggered by incidents or complaints that emanate from oil and gas activities hence agencies rely on self-monitoring reports by oil and gas companies.
“These situations are mostly from companies that hold blocks undertake exploration but do not proceed towards development because either did not strike quantities or commercial quantities of crude oil or gas or the data sufficient enough to warrant them to proceed so they need to look for more funding thus getting to joint venture partnerships,” said Muturi Kamau, co-ordinator at KOGWG.
“The same issues we have experienced in Turkana with poor handling of hazardous waste is the same thing we experienced in Lamu such as communities using contaminated high-density plastic liners.”
Kenya has four petroleum exploration basins — Lamu Basin, Anza Basin, Mandera Basin and Tertiary Rift Basin that make up 63 oil blocks held by different companies.
The country made a breakthrough in March 2012 with the discovery of oil at Lokichar Basin in Turkana County.
According to the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK), to date, over 86 wells have been drilled with a majority being within the Tertiary Rift.
An estimated over four billion barrels of crude oil reserves have been encountered in Lokichar sub-basin by Tullow and its partners with a recovery oil estimated to be 750 million barrels.
