Kenya to export 400,000 barrels/year crude till Turkana project takes off

Kenya plans to export two crude cargoes a year under the early oil pilot scheme up to late-2023, when first oil from the major Turkana oil development is expected to come online, Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau told S&P Global Plats in a telephone interview Friday.

Kamau said the East African country will send two consignments totaling 400,000 barrels a year from 2021 to 2023.

“We target to export some 400,000 barrels of crude annually beginning with the financial year 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23,” he said. “We want a continuous export program up to 2023 so that by the time we start major shipment we know how the market is responding.”

This will pave the way for a major production of around 80,000 b/d which will be exported via a pipeline to the port of Lamu on the Indian Ocean.

The early oil pilot scheme remains suspended due to severe damage to roads caused by adverse weather in the fourth quarter of last year, according to Tullow Oil, which operates the Lokichar fields.

Kamau said the government hopes to export 500,000 barrels of crude this year when the repairs are completed on the road.

FID delays
A final investment decision on the Turkana development has been repeatedly delayed due to issues obtaining approval for use of the land and water rights. Tullow has said it expects to reach FID in the second half of 2020.

In August last year, Kenya exported its maiden crude cargo. The 220,000-barrel crude cargo, was sold to Chinese refiner ChemChina, and was exported from the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Lokichar crude is relatively high quality, classified as light and sweet with an API of 32-38 and sulfur levels below 0.5%, broadly on a par with the UK’s Brent Blend.

But the crude also has a high wax content, of nearly 40%, which means it remains solid at up to 40 degrees Celsius and requires heated pipelines and tankers to transport it.
Source: Platts