THE Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority hopes to have proper laws in place to guide investments in the upstream oil industry by December, readying the country for commercialisation of its deposits.
This comes as the regulator awaits to review the revised Field Development Plan that will enable investment in the Lokichar Basin, allowing Kenya to go commercial on its crude oil in discovered in the Turkana region about 13 years ago.
The wait comes with the recent move by Tullow Oil Plc to sell its entire Kenyan portfolio for a minimum cash consideration of $120 million (Sh15.5 billion) to Gulf Energy Limited after an agreement.
The transaction involves Tullow Overseas Holdings BV selling 100 per cent of the shares in Tullow Kenya BV, which holds Tullow’s entire working interest in Kenya, representing approximately 463 million barrels.
Kenya has also gazetted
50 oil and gas blocks in four major regions of Tertiary Rift, Lamu Basin, Anza and
Mandera basins.
Upstream encompasses initial stages of the oil and gas lifecycle including exploration for reserves, drilling and development of wells, and the production (extraction and basic processing) of crude oil and natural gas.
To support investments and explotation of these resources, the regulator has developed seven key upstream draft regulations including on local content, intended to streamline and strengthen governance in the petroleum sector and benefit Kenyans.
The regulations are currently undergoing a nation-wide public participation, with the latest public forum being in Nairobi yesterday and today.
They include the Petroleum (Upstream Petroleum Management and Administration) Regulations, 2025, Petroleum (Upstream Petroleum Operations) Regulations, 2025, Petroleum (Local Content) Regulations, 2025 and the Petroleum (Upstream Petroleum Cost Management) Regulations, 2025.
Others are Petroleum (Upstream and Midstream Environment, Health and Safety) Regulations, Petroleum (Upstream Petroleum Access to Land) Regulations, 2025 and the Petroleum (Midstream Crude Oil and Natural Gas Pipeline and Storage Operations) Regulations, 2025.
“We target that God willing, we should be able to have concluded the regulations by November, latest by December in the year,” EPRA director general Daniel Kiptoo said during a public participation forum in Nairobi yesterday, “These regulations are purely for the upstream petroleum sub-sector which Kenya is seeking to develope.”
These
regulations, Kiptoo said, will
set the stage for the exploitation of the resources that have been discovered commercially in the
South Lokichar
Basin and other
blocks in the country.
The first oil discovery was announced in 2012 after the drilling of Ngamia- 1 well in the South Lokichar field in Turkana county.
This was followed by another nine discoveries, within the South Lokichar Basin. It is estimated that the basin holds about 585 million barrels of oil and has been earmarked for further development.
However, no major commercial investment has been made so far with only a pilot done in August 2019.
“Considering the strides made and to encourage further activities in the upstream oil and gas subsector, the authority embarked on the development of the regulations aimed at ensuring responsible resource management, attract investment, safeguard local communities and protect the environment,” said Kiptoo.
According to the director general, these regulations are guided by four main objectives. First is to promote fair business practices in the industry, where everyone can invest and benefit.
Secondly is to ensure quality and safety across the value chain and third is to ensure sustainability through responsible environmental, and social governance.
“Last but not least, is to enable the collection of reliable data across the upstream and midstream petroleum value chain to support evidence-based policymaking,” he said.
The country hopes to become a net crude oil exporter with major investments expected, including the construction (proposed) of an 824-892 km pipeline for moving crude oil from the South Lokichar Basin to the Port of Lamu for export.
The official approval for the Field Development Plan for Turkana was recently extended to December 31, 2025, to give Gulf Energy time to review the plan.
