Kenya's first commercial oil is due in December as Turkana rig lands

Kenya is closer to producing crude oil commercially for the first time. A drilling rig for the South Lokichar fields in Turkana docked at Mombasa's Kilindini port on 25 September 2026. The developer says it is on course for first oil in December.

The plan

• Developer: Gulf Energy E&P, working on Blocks T6 and T7 in the South Lokichar basin.
• Rig: a 1,500-horsepower GW70 rig worth more than $20 million, leased from Great Wall Drilling Company.
• Timeline: drilling from 1 November 2026, first oil in December, and first crude exports through Mombasa in early 2027.
• Output: 20,000 barrels a day in the first phase, rising to 50,000 in the second.
• Investment: the full South Lokichar development is valued at about $6 billion. Kenya projects more than $2.9 billion in fiscal benefits over the life of the project, depending on oil prices and volumes.
• Partners: Baker Hughes will provide well services, and SLB will build the early production facility.

"The project remains on course for First Oil production in December 2026," said Gulf Energy CEO Paul Limoh.

A long wait

Oil was discovered in Turkana in 2012, but falling oil prices, disputes and the withdrawal of the original developers held up production for more than a decade. Kenya's energy regulator, EPRA, says the country has 50 oil exploration blocks across four basins.

Why it matters

Turkana oil would give Kenya a new export and tax revenue. It is also central to the question now facing the Lamu refinery. At up to 50,000 barrels a day, Turkana would supply only a small share of the 700,000 barrels a day the refinery is designed to process, so most of its crude would have to come from elsewhere.