President Kibaki announced today.
The President stated this after Anglo-Irish oil firm; Tullow Oil plc., announced that the Ngamia-1 exploration well in Kenya has encountered in excess of 20 metres of net oil pay.
Mr Kibaki called it a “major breakthrough”, stating that it was “the first time Kenya has made such a discovery.”
Kenya is has the largest ecomony in East Africa and it’s a regional business and tourist hub. The discovery of oil and its economic impact cannot be over-emphasized.
The Kenyan president reiterated the pertinence of the discovery stating that Tullow would drill more wells to establish the commercial viability of the oil although Tullow indicates that many leads and prospects similar to Ngamia have been identified and following this discovery the outlook for further success has been significantly improved.
“It is… the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which typically takes in excess of three years. We shall be giving the nation more information as the oil exploration process continues,” the President said.
Tullow Oil, Africa’s leading independent oil company, had also struck oil in neighbouring Uganda. The company indicated that the Kenyan find had exceeded their expectations.
Commenting on the discovery, Angus McCoss, Exploration Director, said: “This is an excellent start to our major exploration campaign in the East African rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia. To make good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us.”
He added: ”Tullow is working closely with the Government and people of Kenya as a committed long term partner to unlock the oil potential of the region. We look forward to further success as seismic and drilling activities continue to gather pace.”
Tullow has found oil in, or off the coast of, a number of African countries, including Ghana and Sierra Leone.
In December, 2010, Tullow celebrated with Ghana marking the First Oil from Jubilee field offshore Ghana after only 40 months of discovery in 2007.
