Kenya's search for oil and gas

Kenya has marked out eight new offshore exploration blocks that it expects to list in the government gazette by end-February, and France's Total is negotiating for the rights to one of the blocks, a senior energy ministry official has said.

Below are some facts on oil and gas exploration in Kenya, which started some five decades ago:

OVERALL PICTURE
* After the gazetting of the new blocks, Kenya will have 46 blocks, with 28 leased out, onshore and offshore, and 17 vacant blocks and one under negotiation with Total.
* The blocks are in four sedimentary basins - Anza, Mandera, Tertiary Rift and Lamu onshore and offshore. To date 32 wells have been drilled, and 19 have shown hydrocarbons. China's CNOOC spudded the 32nd well, Boghal-1, in October 2010 to a depth of 5,085 metres but later opted out of the block.
* To date, companies operating in Kenya have acquired at least 80,000 km of 2D seismic data and 900 km of 3D seismic.
* The east African country, which has yet to strike any commercial deposits, has said it plans to delineate more exploration blocks deep offshore.

LEASED BLOCKS
* Cove Energy has a 25 percent stake in Block L10A and 15 percent in L10B. Its other partners are British oil and gas firm BG Group (40 percent in L10A, 45 percent L10B), Premier Oil Plc (20 percent in L10A, 25 percent L10B), Australia's Pancontinental Oil & Gas (15 percent each in L10A and L10B).
* Pancontinental Oil & Gas holds interests in licences in offshore blocks L6, alongside Flow Energy. It holds a licence for Block L8 alongside Apache Corporation, Origin Energy and Tullow Oil.
* Anadarko Petroleum and its partners have five blocks in the Lamu offshore basin - L5, L7, L11A, L11B and L12. The government has a participating interest of 10 percent in all five blocks. The blocks cover an area of more than 30,500 square kilometres, in waters 100 to 3,000 metres deep.
* In September, France's Total, through its local subsidiary, bought a 40 percent stake in each of the blocks, reducing the holding of Anadarko and its partners Cove Energy, and Dynamic Global Advisors, whose entire stake was bought by Total.
* Tullow Oil has a 50 percent interest in blocks 10A and 10BB. Vancouver-based Africa Oil Corp blocks holds a 50 percent in 10BB. Africa Oil has a 30 percent interest in 10A, with Afren East African Exploration holding the rest of the block.
* Africa Oil also has stakes in Blocks 10BA, Block 12A and 13T (all alongside Tullow Oil) and Block 9 after taking over China CNOOC's stake.
* Afren East African Exploration also has 100 percent of Block L17/18, a 50 percent stake in Block 1.
* Canada's Vanoil has two blocks - 3A and 3B each with 100 percent holdings.
* Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation has Block 11.
* Lion Petroleum has a 50 percent interest in Block 1 and holds 100 percent of Block 2B.
* Canadian oil and gas explorer Simba Energy Inc has a licence for Block 2A, in northeast Kenya.
* Dominion Petroleum has Block L15, and Block L9.
* Sohi Gas Lamu has Block L4. Sohi Gas Dodori has Block L13.
* National Oil Corporation of Kenya has Block 14T.

EXPLORATION ACTIVITY
* In late January, Africa Oil Corp and its partner Tullow Oil began drilling on the Ngamia-1 well on block 10BB in the Lokichar basin, meant to reach a depth of 2,700 metres as part of a multi-well programme in the block and adjacent blocks.
* Tullow Oil also plans to drill the Paipai-1 well in Block 10A in the second quarter of 2012, meant to go 4,500 metres deep. The company is also conducting a 500 km 2D seismic programme in Block 13T, followed by a 1,350 km 2D survey in Block 10BA.
* Pancontinental Oil and Gas and its partners have completed 2D and 3D seismic data acquisition on blocks L10A and L10B, and plans to analyse and map the data later in the year, ahead of exploratory drilling.
* Pancontinental plans to drill two wells on the blocks between 2013 and 2014.
* Pancontinental Oil and Gas plans to begin drilling on a block off the Kenyan coastline, Block L6, in 2012. It also intends to drill this year on the Mbawa prospect on block L8 off Kenya's coast, which was recently farmed-in to Tullow Kenya B.V, a wholly owned subsidiary of Britain's Tullow Oil.
* Kenya's Ministry of Energy approved in November Vanoil Energy's work programme, which will involve acquisition and interpretation of 2D and 3D seismic data and a commitment to drill one exploratory well.
Receiving an extension for exploring blocks 3A and 3B, Vanoil said it would complete an additional 25 km square of 3D seismic surveys, increasing its seismic programme to 75km square.
* In December, the ministry approved Simba Energy's work plan for Block 2, which will involve reprocessing of existing 2D seismic data and reinterpretation of gravity and magnetic data.
* Lion Petroleum and its partners plan to do exploratory drilling on Block 1 in the fourth quarter of this year, and drill Block 2B in 2012-2013.