NAIROBI: Kenyaexported its first-ever batch of crude oil yesterday, with President UhuruKenyatta declaring the shipment of 200,000 barrels a "special moment"in the country's history. The president unfurled the Kenyan flag aboard atanker at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa that will be carrying the oil toAsia. "There are special moments that mark a turning point in the destinyof our nation," Kenyatta said at the ceremony. "The first export of crudeoil by our nation, therefore, marks a special moment in our history as a peopleand as a country."
The maidenshipment was purchased for $12 million by Chinese trading company ChemChina forexport to Malaysia. Kenyatta said the first attempts at finding oil in Kenyadate back to 1937 but it was not until 2012 that a commercially-viable depositwas located. This field was discovered in the South Lokichar Basin in Turkana,in Kenya's far north, by British firm Tullow and its joint venture partners.The company estimates the field holds 560 million barrels of oil.
In early June2018, the company began shipping crude from Turkana to Mombasa by road. It willeventually be shipped via a pipeline under construction. Kenyatta said it"showed the global market that Kenya possesses the know-how and theinfrastructure required to facilitate full- fired development". "Thisfirst oil pilot scheme has also brought with it prosperity for the people ofTurkana but also the wider republic with very many local communities directly benefitingfrom employment opportunities in production and logistics," he said. - AFP