Tullow seeks state agreement on Turkana costs

The project has resumed after a five-month halt, but doubts are growing over its future

Tullow Oil’s longstanding ambition to sell part of its stake in Kenya’s much-delayed Turkana crude project may depend on the Anglo-Irish firm agreeing state compensation for its development costs. Kenya’s Turkana oil reserves, discovered in 2012, are estimated at 560mn bl. Tullow owns 50pc of the project, while its partners, Canada’s Africa Oil Corp. and Total, each hold 25pc. A top Tullow executive told Petroleum Economist last year that FID would likely happen in the second half of 2020, having signed heads of terms with Kenya last June, but this year’s oil price slump has again placed the project in doubt. “I do not know how long the audit process will take. We need a viable project