Nairobi,04/29 – China and Kenya signed an open-ended oil exploration deal Friday after Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived here late Thursday for a three-day state visit having economic cooperation and utilisation of natural resources as cardinal agenda items.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) signed the agreement with Kenyan Energy officials but did not attach any value to the deal, which offered the state-run Chinese oil giant to explore Kenya`s coastal region for oil and gas.
The deal covers six blocs in Lamu, a region bordering Somalia, but which is believed to posses part of the gas reserves which were recently discovered in Tanzania`s Songa Songa region.
Kenyan officials have been engaged in talks with the Chinese officials on the new oil exploration accord, which now offers them the coastal region where the Australian petroleum firm, Woodside Energy, is already exploring for oil.
“The signing of these six contracts indicates CNOOC Limited has successfully extended its overseas exploration activities to East Africa,” the Chinese firm said in a statement released Friday from its Hong Kong base.
Earlier, Kenyan energy officials said they were negotiating with Chinese firms to kick-start fresh exploration of natural gas and oil along the coastal strip of Lamu.
But the Energy Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike, who did not give details of the negotiations, said the talks had progressed well and would lead to the signing of the Production Sharing Agreements.
Nyoike said Lamu is believed to poses massive oil deposits, a step, which could help alleviate the cost of electricity locally.
Kenyan officials said the agreement signed in Nairobi as President Hu and his host President Mwai Kibaki met, did not specify how much the Chinese firm was obliged to pay.
In a communiqué released after the two leaders met, China has agreed to set up an industrial plant in Nairobi to manufacture drugs in Kenya as well as seek for joint investments in the economy.
Source: Angola Press, April 29, 2006
