WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-09-15 Time: 14:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
By George Wachira
Our recent memory of Turkana County is through 2008/09 pictures of hungry families feeding on wild berries with carcasses of cattle strewn all over.
This was during the recent devastating drought.
More positive news out of Turkana County is the proposed wind power project, and a power line passing through Turkana, transmitting power from Ethiopian hydroelectric projects.
Not many people noticed critical news on happenings in Turkana County in the last few weeks.
A company by the name of Centric Imaging Inc announced it had encountered oil seepages in a certain oil exploration block in Lake Turkana area and that the company was going to do more detailed exploration work, leading eventually to drilling.
Oil seepage has the simple definition of oil appearing on the ground surface, pushed to the ground probably by high pressure from beneath.
In Ugandan Lake Albert area where oil production is currently being developed, seepages were reported many years back, and this helped to delineate the starting locations for oil drilling.
Oil seepages are a positive indication which greatly reduce uncertainties in oil exploration.
On September 8, Business Daily carried a story titled: “Govt stops oil exploration on six blocks in Northen Kenya”.
A local company, Interstate Petroleum Company Ltd, wanted the respondent, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy, to quash permits issued to interested parties (Centric, Ludin, African Oil, Platform Turkana Drilling) in respect of exploration blocks 10BA, 10BB, 11A , 11B ,12A ,13T B in Turkana County, and prohibit any further exploration work in those blocks.
The hearing is set for October 27. 2010. This notice reminded me of a rumour I had heard a year or so ago that a Kenyan enterprise while drilling for water had encountered shallow oil deposits in a location in Turkana County.
Last week, Business Daily run another story with the headline: “Tullow raises stakes in Kenya oil search with $34 million deal.”
The Ugandan independent oil player was buying into the Turkana venture and was ready to inject as much as Sh2.7 billion into it.
When you see this amount of money being injected by an independent company whose risk venture normally comes from shareholders, there must be a convincing and viable story.
Tullow has earned a reputation across Africa for being able to sniff out good prospects as has happened in Uganda, West Africa and elsewhere in the world.
Tullow’s entry into Turkana County heightens hopes for oil finds for the county.
It has been said by experts that evidence and experience so far point to Turkana and Keiyo areas in the Rift Valley as being oil prone zones, while gas prone areas are to the east of Isiolo, including the coastal blocks.
It is also understood that the same Turkana consortium is seeking oil exploration blocks on the Ethiopian side of Lake Turkana.
The other piece of good news that appeared in the media last week is that there is a proposed crude oil pipeline project from Southern Sudan and terminating at the proposed Port of Lamu.
Such a pipeline would of course pass through Turkana County and would be a strong complementary project for any future oil discoveries in the area.
While we are on this subject, it is important to note that the oil exploration in Turkana is most likely to touch that area called Elemi Triangle.
Since the eighties many maps of Kenya show this “horn” at the corner of Turkana County.
Maps in Southern Sudan show this “horn” as a part of Southern Sudan.
If there is a real issue with this piece of geography it should be addressed sooner rather than later so that it does not derail future oil prospects.
Risk capital
As good news and hope continue to emerge, the Ministry of Energy should expedite review and upgrade of existing upstream oil and gas law and regulatory framework.
We should not wait until we discover oil and gas to find that the law is not robust enough to address various regulatory, commercial and fiscal issues, including resources sharing with counties.
Any company planning to pump risk capital into oil exploration and development will feel encouraged if oil and gas policies, laws and regulations are sufficient and predictable.
We have noticed frequent conflicts in Uganda between exploration firms and the government of Uganda that have delayed monetisation of oil finds.
As in the case of Lamu and Isiolo oil and gas drillings, managing citizen expectations is critical.
With the coming of county governments it will even be more urgent to develop a policy on what benefits counties should expect to receive from minerals resources.
Enjoy synergy
We need to be proactive and anticipate this debate, not just for oil and gas but to include all mineral resources found in individual counties.
Of course there are numerous knock-on benefits that accrue to a locality from any mineral activity, and these are what citizens should plan to exploit.
On a related subject, we now understand that Kenyans, Ugandans and other private players are belatedly discussing how the two countries can enjoy the synergy presented by the oil finds in Uganda and a wider petroleum demand market that includes Kenya.
Specifically they are discussing refining which will inevitably touch on petroleum distribution infrastructure.
Wachira works for Petroleum Focus Consultants.
Original date published: 15 September 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009150121.html?viewall=1