Nairobi, Kenya | – Tullow Oil Kenya, the local subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange-listed multinational Tullow Oil plc, plans to drill its first exploration oil well in Elgeyo Marakwet in western kenya later this year, as the company continues to expand its oil and gas search to new areas in the country.
Speaking during a meeting with Elgeyo Marakwet leaders in Iten on Monday, Tullow Oil Kenya Social Performance Manager Rob Gerrits said the oil firm had already conducted environment and social impact assessment exercise in readiness for the drilling which is expected to be approved soon.
Tullow Oil Kenya has been conducting a series of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment meetings in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo Counties ahead of the start of oil exploration drilling in Block 12A which covers both counties.
The latest developments in oil exploration indicate that the company is set to start drilling its first oil well in Elgeyo Marakwet later this year.
The oil exploration company said the proposed exploration well, named Lekep-A, will be the first exploration well to be drilled by Tullow on Block 12A.
However, the company has already conducted successful seismic surveys and indentified a number of leads, including the proposed Lekep-A Well.
Results as well as data collected from this exploration well are expected to provide further information for future drilling programmes. The exploration well is expected to test if there are commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in the area.
This comes after Tullow said it would write off 2.2 billion US dollars of its exploration activities in Ethiopia, Mauritania and Norway as a result of the plunge in crude oil prices to below US$50 per barrel.
Tullow Oil has said that it would slash its global exploration budget by US100 million, but added that it would continue focusing on its East African business.
Tullow Oil Kenya trials in Turkana, in northwestern Kenya, have proved the presence of up to 10 billion barrels of oil that are commercially viable.
