Tullow Oil's ambitious South Lokichar project in Kenya has been dealt a significant blow
Tullow Oil's ambitious South Lokichar project in Kenya has been dealt a significant blow as partners TotalEnergies, and Africa Oil has opted to exit the oilfield development.
The project, which has experienced significant delays, aims to extract approximately 460 million barrels of oil from multiple fields in the remote Turkana county of Kenya. The goal is to export 130,000 barrels daily through an 895-kilometer pipeline to a terminal in Lamu Port.
However, a blend of commercial, political, technical, and environmental hurdles, compounded by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, have caused the project to fall at least four years behind its initial timeline.
The withdrawal of the French energy giant TotalEnergies and the London-based Africa Oil is set to compound these challenges, leaving Tullow as the sole owner of the asset.
In recent years, Tullow has sought to reduce its 50% stake in the project. Before the exit of its partners, Tullow was in discussions with India's ONGC Videsh and Indian Oil Corporation about potentially becoming strategic partners.
Moreover, there have been rumors of potential interest in the asset from China's Sinopec.
Africa Oil's exit was motivated by promising opportunities elsewhere in its portfolio, particularly in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia. This is a region Tullow withdrew from last year, shortly before Shell and TotalEnergies announced two significant oil discoveries.
Africa Oil's CEO, Keith Hill, explained their decision: "We have decided to leave our Kenya concessions as our strategy has shifted to focus on production and high-potential exploration opportunities, including our Orange basin portfolio where we are now appraising the promising Venus discovery offshore Namibia."
Kenya 
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