First-ever crude oil discovered in Kenya...is it a blessing or a curse of the black gold?

Kenya strikes it lucky with first-ever crude oil discovery
Daily Mail
March 27, 2012


Tullow is partnered with Africa Oil at the site of last weekend's discovery. Credit: AFP/Getty

Oil has been discovered in northern Kenya, the country's delighted president has announced.
It is the first time black gold has been found within the east African nation's borders - and the commercial viability is still uncertain.

However, the Anglo-Irish firm behind the exploratory drilling believe they may have tapped into reserves of light crude similar to that uncovered in neighbouring Uganda. President Mwai Kibaki announced last night that the discovery had been made in the north-west Turkana region over the weekend.

'This is the first time Kenya has made such a discovery and it is very good news for our country,' Mr Kibaki said. 'It is however the beginning of a long journey to make our country an oil producer, which typically takes in excess of three years.'

Tullow Oil - which is carrying out oil exploration in the region - said that 20 meters of net oil pay was discovered at a site called Ngamia-1. It is a high-quality oil that will yield more gasoline and diesel per barrel than some other crude discoveries in Africa. Tullow's exploration director, Angus McCoss, called the discovery an 'excellent start' to Tullow's exploration campaign in the rift basins of Kenya and Ethiopia.

'To make a good oil discovery in our first well is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material program ahead of us,' Mr McCoss said in a statement, adding that the firm is working with Kenya's government and plans on further seismic and drilling activities.

The oil find was near the border with Uganda and South Sudan. Both of those countries have oil industries.


Tullow is using aerial mapping and seismic geo-technology to determine where to drill. 
Credit: AFP/Getty

Tullow said many other prospective sites similar to Ngamia have been identified 'and following this discovery the outlook for further success has been significantly improved.'

Echoing Kibaki, Tullow spokesman George Cazenove countered against over-excitement, saying found that oil was in nitially Uganda in 2006 and had not yet reached the production stage. Though Uganda will get some oil to market next year, production won't reach full speed until 2016, he said.

'I think Uganda provides a helpful parallel,' Mr Cazenove said. 'There's a lot more work to do before we talk about how we get this to production and how it would affect Kenya as a nation.'
'It's a great result but must be seen in context. It's a long-term game for sure,' he said.

Kenya Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi was quoted by Kenya's leading newspaper, the Daily Nation, as saying that Tullow had informed him that Kenya's oil deposits could be bigger than Uganda's. Mr Cazenove declined to directly comment on Murungi's claim but said that Uganda's and Kenya's oil potential are similar. Tullow said the Ngamia well was drilled to 1,041 meters (3,415 feet) and would now be drilled to about 2,700 meters (8,858 feet) - a process that will be completed in May.

Tullow, which began its exploration work in Kenya last year, has a 50 per cent interest in multiple sites in Kenya and Ethiopia's Rift Valley basins covering more than 100,000 square kilometers (38,610 square miles).

Cuba gets ready to tap it`s estimated 5 billion barrels of oil, raising sentiment in the U.S.

Sheikh Fidel: Cuba drills for oil – U.S. complaining about potential spills
A recent U.S. Geological Survey says there could be 5 billion barrels of undiscovered oil reserves in the north Cuba basin. As Cuba finally taps its oil reserves, the U.S. claim they are ‘unprepared for spill’

William Booth
Washington Post
March 1, 2012 4:59am

DESMOND BOYLAN/REUTERS - A Chinese-built drilling rig known as Scarabeo 9 is seen off the coast of Havana in January. Spanish oil company Repsol YPF has begun drilling the first well in Cuba's long-awaited exploration of offshore oilfields.

As energy companies from Spain, Russia and Malaysia line up to drill for oil in Cuban waters 60 miles from the Florida Keys, U.S. agencies are struggling to cobble together emergency plans to protect fragile reefs, sandy beaches and a multibillion-dollar tourism industry in the event of a spill.

Drawing up contingency plans to confront a possible spill is much more difficult because of the economic embargo against Cuba. U.S. law bars most American companies — including oil services and spill containment contractors — from conducting business with the communist island. The embargo, now entering its 50th year, also limits direct government-to-government talks.

Jorge R Pinon/Washington Post

In the vacuum, a Coast Guard admiral in Miami and a dozen technocrats from Cuba and the United States have begun to quietly engage in an awkward partnership of necessity to protect their coastlines, separated by politics but united by the mighty Gulf Stream.

“This is a case of Cold War ideology colliding with 21st-century environmental policy, and it is the environment that is at risk,” said Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors.
...

5 billion barrels

Last month, Repsol, a Spanish oil and gas company, using a state-of-the-art, Norwegian-designed, Chinese-built, semi-submersible rig called Scarabeo 9, began drilling the first in a series of deep-water exploratory wells in the Florida Straits, at a cost of $500,000 a day.

According to a 2004 study by the U.S. Geological Survey, there could be 5 billion barrels of undiscovered oil reserves in the north Cuba basin. While some U.S. lawmakers might not like it, Cuba has every right to drill for oil in its own waters.

Congressional Republicans representing Cuban American communities in Florida say the Obama administration should have imposed sanctions and threatened foreign companies such as Repsol from doing business in Cuba.
...

(click here to read the full article)

Wondered why Somalia`s name has come up so much recently in the news? Because of OIL!

Hmmm...after the global powers massively over-fished Somalia`s fish population and dumped metric tons of toxic pollutants into their coastal waters to ultimately forcing them to piracy - the globalists now seek to suck dry and exploit their last natural resource of black gold.


Britain eyeing share in Somalia's future energy industry
Press TV
Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:48PM GMT

British Prime Minister David Cameron (center) opens the Somalia 

Conference at Lancaster House in London on 02/23/12. Credit: PressTV

British media say the government’s move to offer humanitarian aid and security assistance to Somalia is aimed at winning a stake in country's future energy industry.

In a report published Saturday, The Guardian revealed Britain’s involvement in a secret high-stakes dash for oil in Somalia.

Somalia, a former British colony, has been suffering decades of conflict and is known as a hotbed of piracy plaguing international shipping in the Indian Ocean.

In early February, British Foreign Secretary William Hague paid an unannounced visit to Somalia to become the first British Foreign Secretary to visit Mogadishu in almost two decades.

He also appointed Matt Baugh as Britain's first ambassador to war-torn Somalia, which he described the country as "the world's most failed state."

Last week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron hosted an international conference on Somalia where he pledged more aid, financial help and measures to fight terrorism in the African nation.

The Guardian report, however, described the summit as talks between British officials and Somali counterparts over exploiting intact oil reserves in the arid northeastern part of Somalia.

"We have spoken to a number of UK officials, some have offered to help us with the future management of oil revenues. They will help us build our capacity to maximize future earnings from the oil industry," the report cited Abdulkadir Abdi Hashi, the minister for international cooperation in the autonomous Puntland region, as saying.

Puntland is an region in northeastern Somalia, where the first oil is expected to be extracted next month.

Experts say London’s involvement in the future Somali oil industry could prop up the UK’s weakened economy, at a time it has resorted to austerity measures to avoid a budget deficit.

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said his government had almost no other choice but to persuade Western companies to invest and operate in Somalia by offering a portion of the country's plentiful resources of oil and gas and large reserves of uranium.

Britain's efforts to develop Somalia's natural resources continue while the Canadian company Africa Oil started oil exploration in Puntland in January, the first drilling in Somalia for 21 years.

Chinese and US firms have reportedly also voiced interest about the potential for oil as the country sounds safe enough to drill after two decades of unrelenting war.

MRS/JR/IS

Additional Readings:
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Scores killed in US drone attack in Somalia
Heavy clashes claim 25 lives in south Somalia