11/8/2006
"Oil drilling project set to commence"
News Brief
Equipment to be used in prospective oil drilling off the Lamu Coast has arrived
at the Mombasa Port.
MV Thor Hanne, a general cargo vessel, docked in at the port after arriving from
Singapore on Thursday. Equipment from the ship will be stored at a supply base
for the oil drilling rig, Chikyu, which is expected on location 135 km from Lamu
next week. Mv Chikyu is one of the largest and most modern oil drilling rigs in
the world, and is too large to dock at the port.
The Government is preparing to issue a statement on the status of oil
exploration in the country and Kenyans are being assured that possible oil
discovery could optimistically change the economic outlook of the country.
Energy officials say the Government has already briefed members of parliament,
top civil servants, leaders from Lamu District, and owners of top media houses
in Kenya on the latest developments on oil exploration.
A delegation went to Norway last week to represent the Government in a
conference on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) on Oil.
The EITI supports improved governance in resource rich countries through full
publication and verification of company payments and government revenues from
oil, gas and mining. The delegation to Norway included Mrs. Mary M’Mukindia the
CEO of NOCK. The meeting went well and the commencement of drilling is a clear
indication that everything is going well.
Berth 5 of Mombasa port yesterday was a flurry of activity as personnel from
Kenya Ports Authority, Spanfreight Shipping (the vessels local ground handling
agency) and SDV Transami oversaw the offloading work. Drilling equipment stashed
in containers was offloaded including pipes that will be used in the drilling
work.
Woodside had won the rights to drill the oil in Blocks L6 and L17 located over
100 km from Lamu in the Indian Ocean.
Energy PS Patrick Nyoike yesterday that rights to explore for oil on Block L2,
L3 and L4 off Lamu were awarded to China National offshore Oil Corporation
(CNOOC).
CNOOC signed six Production Sharing Contract (PSC) agreements with Kenyan
Government, for blocks L8, 10A, L-3, L-8 and L4 in May 2006.
http://www.nockenya.co.ke/news.asp?type=1&cat=141
10/30/2006
"Oil Exploration consortium hopeful of Lamu Deposits"
The Standard Business Newspaper, Monday October 30th 2006. Written By Pocyline
Karani
A Consortium prospecting for oil off the Kenyan Coast says its mapping and
seismic surveys have identified more than 3 prospects and leads, a number of
which are capable of holding up to a billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Drilling of the first oil exploration wells, about 135 km away from the main
land of Lamu , begins in a month’s time. An advance supplies ship, Mv Thor
Hanne, docked in Mombasa last week, and more supplies are expected.
Australia-based oil and gas exploration and production company, Woodside Energy
Ltd in a joint venture with Dana, Repsol and Global Petroleum are scheduled to
begin conducting the drilling. There is positive confirmation from the
explorers, who say that the Kenya acreage has the potential to become a
significant oil region, the consortium says.
According to Woodside who are the lead investors and who are conducting the
actual drilling, there are Direct Hydrocarbon Indicators (DHI: potential oil and
gas indicator) on some of the leads. The first prospect to be drilled is likely
to be Pomboo in Block L-5, and the second possibly Sokwe in Block L-7.
Both have reservoir objectives in rocks of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, which
elsewhere contain a large proportion of the world’s known oil and gas reserves.
Drilling will be undertaken using the deepwater drilling vessel Mv Chikyu which
has been contracted by Woodside through the Norwegian international drilling
contractor, Smedvig on behalf of the Japanese Agency for Marine Earth Science
and Technology (JAMSTEC). Chikyu would arrive onto the drilling site within ten
days with equipments, parts, spare parts and machines for commencement of work.
The acquisition of the vessel, also known as the rig, as big as two football
pitches, had initially proved difficult.
Dr John Armstrong, the executive chairman of Global Petroleum, said that
obtaining a rig proved difficult with very high rig usage and long-term rig
contracts arising from the strong oil price over the past two years.
The venture sees Woodside Energy (Kenya) PTY earning 30 per cent, Dana Petroleum
30 percent and Global 20 per cent and Repsol 20 per cent has scheduled up to two
wells to be drilled in Blocks L-5, christened Pomboo.
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