Page 60: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Jul/Aug 2014)

59 61

co-ordinate and oversee maritime affairs.”

Roads connecting ports, airports, and other supply routes need to be bolstered to support the heavy loads, as well as move personnel.

East Africa

The oil and gas industry along with emerging sectors of the economy and a growing middle class have boosted civil aviation needs in the region. The country’s main airport is Jomo Kenyatta

International (Nairobi), and there are smaller airports at Wilson, Mombasa,

Eldoret, and Kisumu.

Bobby Bryan, Delta Airlines commer- cial manager for East Africa and West

Africa, told the Discover Global Markets

Conference in May that airports, aircraft, adequate fuel supplies and staff are nec- essary to service vessels and crews. Delta has an offce in Nairobi and opened one

Kenya’s coastal and ofshore exploration blocks in Dar es Salaam a year ago. It partners initial exploration period of the L10B with KLM and Kenya Airways.

higher fees and new capital gains tax rules.

license area. Kenya’s frst competitive licensing In a January 2013 report, Deloitte &

Ophir Energy, which holds a 90% inter- round has been postponed to at least Touche described Kenya’s economy as est in Block L9, had said it would drill 4Q 2014, and GlobalData’s sub-Saharan “energy starved” and that may hamper a well in 3Q 2014, but in a June 2014 upstream analyst John Sisa said in May rapid infrastructure development.

investor presentation, announced that that the delay could beneft the country

Security it was pushed to 1H 2015. This may be if additional discoveries are made in the related to the farm-out to FAR of 30%, interim. Securing infrastructure, operations and subject to government approval. The personnel safety is a primary consid-

Logistics prospect has P50 reserves of 190MMboe eration. Given Kenya’s proximity to gross and 171 MMboe net. Adequate ports and docking facilities Somalia and shared, but porous, maritime

FAR anticipates drilling a well in are still in short supply along the East border, critical infrastructure – electric,

Block L6 at the end of 1Q 2015. African coast. The different types of ves- gas, telecoms, transportation, water and

Afrin (EAX) is preparing to drill two sels needed to support a robust explora- food supplies – supporting the offshore wells in 2015 in Blocks L17/L18. tion program require supply and repair industry may be a constant target.

Ultra-deepwater Block L26 is not yards and berthing options. Increasingly frequent terrorist attacks, currently under license. Edgo Energy, The Kenya Ports Authority manages some of which the Kenya National the exploration unit of Jordan’s Edgo, the Port of Mombasa, named Africa’s ffth Disaster Operation Centre attributes to and joint venture partner Qatar First largest for container shipping in 2013, Somali militant groups, may negatively

Bank relinquished the block in January based on increased traffc after capacity infuence investment investments and 2013. Mazen Masri, managing director of expansion. In January, incoming KPA possibly forestall exploration activity in

Edgo, cited the technical and monetary Chairman Danson Mungatana expressed Kenya.

challenges of drilling in water depths his support for the development of small Earlier this year, bomb and grenade beyond 1500m, and also mentioned that ports program and said the new commis- attacks in Nairobi and the coastal city the block is subject to a maritime border sioning of the standard gauge railway of Mombasa led the UK, US, France and dispute, claimed by both Kenya and line would “revamp the transport sector Australia to issue travel warnings. As

Somalia. and…support port effciency.” this issue goes to press, Somali militants

Kenya is boosting existing port facili- attacked hotels and killed dozens in

NOCK ties with the construction of a $3.5billion Mpeketoni, a coastal town in Kenya’s

The National Oil Corp. of Kenya Ltd. Lamu port. Lamu County, another blow towards (NOCK) is a state-owned company The Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) destabilizing the tourist economy.

that was established in April 1981 to was set up in June 2004 to provide regu- With evolving threats, Kenyan govern- spearhead exploration. latory oversight of the Kenyan marine ment efforts to protect people and criti-

A new Petroleum (Exploration & industry. KMA implements international cal infrastructure must evolve as well,

Production) Act was enacted in 1984, maritime conventions and promotes or the country risks losing petroleum and revised in 1986, when royalties were safety, security, maritime training, search investment.

replaced with production sharing con- and rescue, pollution prevention and The East Africa Oil & Gas Summit tracts. Through 2012, most of Kenya’s the preservation of the marine environ- (EAOGS) will take place in Nairobi this

PSCs gave NOCK a 10% stake in produc- ment. KMA’s mandate, as stipulated in October, and we’ll see what a few months tion, raised to 25% in 2013, along with

Kenya’s KMA Act 2006, is “to regulate, more will bring.

July 2014 | OE oedigital.com 62 060_OE0714_geofocus_Kenya.indd 62 6/20/14 7:25 PM