Tullow to resume transport of crude oil next week after protest delays

Tullow is expected to resume transportation of crude oil from Turkana to Mombasa Wednesday next week.

Transport of the oil by road was halted a week after it started on June 3, following protests by area residents and leaders, including Members of Parliament, claiming that the Government had reneged on its role to beef up security in the region.

John Munyes Cabinet Secretary Petroleum and Mining said things have normalised following talks last week with the residents and local leaders.

“We are signing a return to work formula with the different stakeholders. Tullow and the other companies working on the project are at the moment remobilising their staff and equipment back to Lokichar, which will take about a week. By Wednesday we should be able to start again,” he said.

Tullow, the lead firm in the project, has been moving 600 barrels of crude oil per day. Munyes said this will be scaled to reach 2 000 barrels per day by end of this year.

“We will achieve that (2 000 barrels a day) gradually by December,” he said.

The oil being transported was produced in 2015 during an extended well testing programme.