Andrew Kamau, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining told a media briefing in Nairobi that government officials are set to meet potential oil buyers who operate oil refineries next week. 

“During the meeting, we will know the price for Kenyan crude oil in the international market,” Kamau said. 

He added that actual export will begin when oil stored reaches 200,000 barrels capacity and that so far 80,000 barrels of oil have been evacuated to storage tanks at the port of Mombasa.

The east African nation discovered commercial deposits in 2012 and currently an estimated 560 million barrels of recoverable oil have been identified at the Lokichar Basin in northwest Kenya.

Kamau said that Kenya currently produces between 400 and 600 barrels of oil per day under early oil pilot scheme.

“The aim of the oil exports under the early oil pilot scheme is not to make a profit but to test the logistics of transporting oil to the market,” he added.

He noted that at present between 90 and 100 oil trucks are evacuating the oil to storage tanks in the port of Mombasa awaiting for exports.

Kamau noted that beginning in April, oil production will be ramped up to 1,000 barrels per day and thereafter increased to 2,000 barrels per day in May.

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