Kenya to strike oil in 2 weeks’ time, or will it?

It will be managed by a secretariat based at the United Nations Development Fund in the country’s capital.

The personnel to be trained will be placed in selected universities around the world.

“(We) resolved to set up a South-South Energy Fund with a secretariat managed by UNDP in Nairobi,” Mr Murungi said, adding that Kenya is vying for the position of secretary general of the fund.

Kenya and Liberia have each pledged to contribute $100,000 as seed capital to fund the secretariat’s establishment. The UNDP has pledged $1 million.

Addressing the Second South-South High-Level Meeting on Oil and Gas Management at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, Mr Murungi said: “We in Kenya would like to manage our oil and gas resources in a manner that promises maximum benefit to our people, and to modernise our physical and social infrastructure.”

He invited petroleum exploration companies to apply for the remaining 14 blocks.

“We believe there is plenty of oil and gas in Kenya and we are confident that we shall make commercial discoveries.”

The minister said: “With discoveries in Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, we believe that Kenya is now on the threshold, too. It is only a matter of time.”

“Africa’s economic salvation lies in its vast oil and gas reserves. As is evident in the Middle East, where oil and gas have transformed barren desert economies, well-managed oil and gas resources can be principal agents of socio-economic transformation in Africa. Accelerated development of Africa’s upstream industry is our quickest route out of poverty,” Mr Murungi said.

Out of the 30 investigative wells drilled in Kenya, 19 have shown traces of hydrocarbons, though none are in commercial production.

The country has signed 17 production-sharing agreements over the past 18 months, and there are 14 blocks available for oil and gas exploration.

In another planned investment in the industry, Origin Energy Ltd, an Australian company, aims to start gathering data for an exploratory study in the Indian Ocean near Malindi.

Mr Murungi struck a note of caution as well, saying: “There are those who see oil as evil. Oil extraction in Africa has been associated with dictatorship, tyranny, imperialism, exploitation, neglect of agriculture, corruption and abuse of human rights... Hence the question: ‘Is oil a blessing or a curse in Africa?’”

Meanwhile, Mr Murungi has been listed to present a keynote address at the 16th Africa Annual Oil Week to be held from November 4-6 in Cape Town, South Africa.