Kenya offers 46 oil blocks to Nigerian investors

Kenyan authority has reportedly offered its 46 newly-discovered oil blocks to interested Nigerians to prospect for the development of the sector. Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, disclosed to reporters that the offer of the oil wells was parts of the outcome of the dialogue group preceding the Nigeria-Kenya Investment Forum held in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Alison-Madueke was on the entourage of President Goodluck Jonathan who concluded a three-day state visit to Kenya on Saturday with host President, Uhuru Kenyatta, presiding over the Forum. The Forum, held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi, had in attendance more than 500 prominent investors from both countries. The minister said that beyond giving the opportunity to Nigerian investors to acquire the oil wells, Kenya also sought Nigeria’s assistance in the formulation of the right policies and frame-work to manage the sector.

  “It is well known now that Kenya had recently discovered hydro-carbon reserves and they are very keen to move quite aggressively in terms of exploration activities.

  “They felt that as sister African country, Nigeria having many years of oil exploration and production, it only makes sense that we exchange agreement in co-operation to hand over knowledge, capabilities and experience learnt. 

  “They seek various templates that we have formulated, including policies, processes and a sort of templates that form Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), among others.

“We also looked at areas surrounding Nigeria’s investment possibilities where we think that Nigerian business men and women could come into the oil and gas sector in Kenya.

  “They are very keen that Nigerian operators in the upstream, midstream and downstream service sectors of the oil and gas industry look to Kenya as a burgeoning frontier for investments in the oil and gas sector.

  “They are also very keen that we robustly support them in setting up the right frame-work, policies and processes and technology to help them drive the exploration activities,” she said.

  The minister said that among the seven MoUs and bilateral agreements signed by both countries was that on oil and gas, which spelt out details of the co-operation.

  Kenya recently announced that its oil resources met the threshold for commercial exploitation, raising the country’s hope of joining the league of oil producing nations.