EAC benefits from oil, gas exploration

What you need to know:

  • Report says Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania saw Sh325 billion spent on exploration.

Discovery of oil portends a bright future for Kenya as more direct and indirect multi-billion-shilling investments in the sector will create more jobs and opportunities for many.

A just released report by Visiongain, a business intelligence company, says Kenya and its East African neighbours — Uganda and Tanzania — saw Sh325 billion ($3.66 billion) spent in exploration activities in 2014 on both upstream exploration and development (E&D) and midstream infrastructure.

“Neglected by investors for many years, it was overshadowed by the rapid development in West Africa and the established markets in North Africa, but Kenya and its neighbours ‘oilfields’ are fast becoming one of the world’s most interesting oil and gas hotspots,” says the 183-page report.

Entitled East African Oil & Gas Market 2014-2024: Upstream & Midstream Spending in Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan & Somalia, it adds that gains from the investments sanctioned by respective governments might soon see Kenyans enjoy cheaper oil and see the export sector enjoy a boom.

With East Africa covering a territory roughly six times the size of the North Sea — a highly valued oil source, East Africa’s future can only be better as it has fewer than 500 wells drilled to date where proven commercially viable oil estimates have been discovered.