Nairobi — Kenya and US firm Anardako Petroleum Corporation have signed an agreement for the exploration of five offshore oil and gas blocks in Lamu basin.

The ministry of Energy said the pact for blocks L5, L 7, L11A, L11B and L12 was signed by the Government to intensify the search for commercial crude oil and gas deposits.

Senior superintending geologist, Mr Hudson Andambi, said Anardako was awarded all the blocks because it has vast expertise in deep-sea exploration.

"Anardako is set to start its work programme," he said during an oil and gas workshop in Nairobi organised by the East Africa Environment Network and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Anardako, the largest independent deep-water oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico, also has production or exploration interests in Alaska, Algeria, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mozambique and West Africa.

Andambi said the Government is committed to promoting Kenya as an exploration frontier and investment destination because 19 out of the 31 wells drilled in Kenya have traces of gas.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation started sinking the $26 million (Sh2 billion) Boghal-1-1 exploratory well in Isiolo North district last October 28, 2009. Drilling proper does not begin until April 2010.

He said various prospective horizons aim to test the existence of oil deposits. Included in the items recovered will be scientifically tested. Boghal will increase Kenya's drilled density to one well in every 12,500 sq.km of the country's 400,000 sq km.

Andambi said Bogal-1-1 is being drilled in the Anza basin, where 10 wells have been sunk in the past few months, with the maximum depth being 3,000 metres, and seven of the wells showed traces of oil and gas.

He added that the ministry of Energy will work with NGOs to manage community expectations as it takes about seven years before commercial production of gas starts when a discovery is made.

East Africa Environment Network said civil societies and government agencies doing oil exploration need to work together for greater production.

Source: The Nation (Kenya)