Kenya Sets December Deadline for Turkana Oil Extraction
Kenya is set to start extracting and transporting crude oil from Turkana by December this year, according to President William Ruto. The move aims to secure domestic supplies for the planned Lamu refinery, which will process crude from Kenya as well as international markets.
Ruto announced that an agreement had been reached with Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote to invest in a pipeline connecting Turkana to Lamu. This infrastructure will provide a route for transporting crude produced in northern Kenya to the coastal refinery.
The proposed refinery has a processing capacity of up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day. While Turkana production is expected to form part of this supply, additional crude will be sourced from international markets. Ruto compared this model with the Dangote refinery in Lagos, Nigeria, which draws crude from different sources.