NATIONAL OIL CORPORATION OF KENYA (NOC) STARTS SEISMIC DATA ACQUISITION IN MAGADI
PRESS STATEMENT NAIROBI, 21st August 2017:
National Oil Corporation of Kenya, (NOC), the State lead agency in Kenya’s oil and gas exploration activities has moved to strengthen its participation in the sector.
NOC, who is the operator of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for Block 14T which sits on the southern-most part of Kenya’s Tertiary Rift Basin, has commenced 2D seismic data acquisition in the Magadi Sub Basin within the Block. For this exercise NOC has contracted BGP Kenya Limited, an affiliate of BGP International to acquire up to 300 line km of 2D seismic data by November 2017.
Block 14T borders to the north Block 12A operated by Tullow Kenya BV where good oil shows were realised in the Cheptuket-1 well drilled in March 2016. The Tertiary Rift is also home to Kenya’s first commercial hydrocarbon discoveries which are currently under appraisal in preparation for development and production.
As part of the NOC’s efforts to boost local content and build capacity for Kenyans, the processing of the seismic data will also be done locally with close participation of National Oil geoscientists. To this end, NOC Chief Executive Officer, Ms. MaryJane Mwangi and Mr. Zhao Enhui, the General Manager of BGP Kenya Limited recently signed the contract for the seismic data processing which shall be completed by February 2018 and will be undertaken at BGP’s Nairobi office.
National Oil Geoscientists jointly with their Japanese National Oil Company (JOGMEC) counterparts who have been collaborating on the exploration activities in the Block shall thereafter begin interpretation of the data,” said Ms. MaryJane during the signing ceremony held at NOC Head Office at Kawi House in Nairobi.
Previously, NOC has successfully undertaken and completed a series of geoscientific studies within the Block including an initial seismic data acquisition programme. The current seismic acquisition campaign is expected to lead to the identification of drillable prospects. NOC is also working with various stakeholders towards enhancing public awareness on matters of oil & gas exploration in Kenya. National Oil has been conducting community meetings in the Magadi area to sensitise the community on the project benefits. NOC has also been supporting a number of community projects in the area including equipping schools, grading access roads and construction of water pans.
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