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Tullow Oil plans to build new US$1bn crude oil pipeline in Kenya

Independent oil and gas producer Tullow Oil has announced plans to build a US$1bn crude oil pipeline in Kenya by 2022. The project will be owned and operated by a joint venture (JV) of the government and the Kenya Joint Venture (KJV) comprising Tullow Oil, Africa Oil and Total. The final investment decision (FID) on the project is slated for later in 2019. Upon completion, the pipeline will spread across 821 km and ship about 80,000 bbl/d from the Lokichar onshore oil fields in Northern Kenya to the Lamu seaport.



Kenya discovered oil in the Lokichar region as early as 2012 and Tullow Oil currently estimates it contains 560 mbl in proven and probable reserves. It expects them to produce about 100,000 bbl/d of crude oil starting from 2022. However, the Kenyan government estimates that this amount is insufficient to justify the construction of an economically viable refinery.