Kenya to move Turkana export date forward, shipping half the oil planned

The Kenyan government has announced that it wants to start exporting oil from the Turkana oil fields sooner than expected.

The nation’s Petroleum Chief Administrative Secretary, John Mosonik, confirmed that Kenya will look for buyers of the oil when 200,000 barrels are stockpiled at Mombasa Port.

The government had previously planned to export the crude oil once 400,000 had been transported to the coastal town.

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With the quantity having been lowered, the date for shipments has been brought forward – exports were originally expected to commence in the first quarter of 2019.

There will be around 110 trucks carrying 2,000 barrels of the petroleum from the Turkana fields to Mombasa per day, with the trip expected to take around 10 days.

“Some of the completed works in this depot is the modification and insulation of the receipt tank with a capacity to hold 90,000 barrels, two adjacent truck unloading bays, a steam boiler for line heating and re-heating the crude oil trucks if necessary,” stated Charles Nguyai, CEO of the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL).