The president of Kenya has signed a long-awaited petroleum bill into law to regulate the domestic oil exploration and production activities. The legislation sets out and regulates how oil revenues will be shared between the government, county governments, local communities and exploration and production companies. Tullow Oil and its partner Africa Oil discovered commercial oil reserves in the Lokichar basin in 2012 and reached an agreement with the government and Moller Maersk for the construction of an 891 km long oil export pipeline in 2016. They are working towards a final investment decision (FID) by the end of 2019. Oil reserves in Kenya are estimated at 2,200 mbl (2017).
In addition, the president of Kenya signed the Energy Bill 2017, which creates three national institutions to manage and regulate energy resources in Kenya. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority will regulate the production, trade, transmission, distribution, supply and use of electricity, except for nuclear power projects licensing. This Authority will also regulate the trade, refining, transportation, storage and sales of petroleum products, and the production, distribution, supply and use of renewable energies. The Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation will oversee the implementation of the Rural Electrification Programme and manage funds for electrification and renewable deployment programmes. The Nuclear Power and Energy Agency will propose a regulatory framework for the implementation of a nuclear programme.
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