Gulf Energy E&P BV has leased a $15 million onshore drilling rig from a Chinese contractor in the UAE, in what it describes as a decisive step toward extracting oil from one of east Africa's most anticipated petroleum projects.
Gulf Energy E&P BV, a local firm pursuing development rights in the South Lokichar Basin in Turkana County, said it has secured the GW70 rig, worth more than $15 million, from Great Wall Drilling Company on a long-term lease. The rig is expected to arrive at the port of Mombasa by the end of next month before being transported overland to the remote, arid northwest of Kenya.
The company's chairman, Francis Njogu, said Gulf Energy was targeting first oil by 1 December — an ambitious deadline that hinges on parliamentary ratification of its Field Development Plan, a process still pending in Nairobi.
"At Gulf Energy, it's all systems go, in the journey to deliver first oil by December 1st this year. The delegation in Abu Dhabi has witnessed firsthand the advanced state of GW70, and integrated onshore oil field drilling rig which we recently secured," Njogu said.
The $6bn project, if it proceeds on schedule, would represent a landmark moment for Kenya, which has spent more than a decade attempting to commercialize its oil reserves with little to show for it. Previous efforts by TotalEnergies and its partners stalled over cost disputes and infrastructure challenges, leaving Turkana's oil wealth locked underground.
Officials from Kenya's Ministry of Energy, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Turkana County Government travelled to Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region last week to inspect the rig, which has been operating on contracts for ADNOC. County secretary Dr Richard Ekai described the visit as "enlightening and productive," though the delegation's communiqué noted that recommendations had been issued to "fine-tune readiness" before deployment.
The Kenyan government projects the basin could generate between $1.05 billion (Sh136 billion) and $2.9 billion (Sh371 billion) in fiscal receipts over the life of the project, depending on global oil prices.
