Kenya could tap into oil resources spread across four major sedimentary basins as the country prepares to begin commercial crude production from the South Lokichar fields in Turkana, according to the latest Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) report.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The findings come as Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote prepares to break ground for a planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu, placing renewed focus on the amount of crude Kenya and the wider region could eventually produce

Kenya currently has four sedimentary basins covering an estimated 485,000 square kilometres, with the Lamu Basin accounting for the largest area at 261,000 square kilometres, according to EPRA.

The other basins are the Tertiary Rift, covering about 100,000 square kilometres, the Anza Basin at 81,000 square kilometres, and the Mandera Basin at 43,000 square kilometres.

📌 What You Need to Know

The Tertiary Rift is currently the country's most advanced petroleum province and includes the South Lokichar sub-basin, where significant oil discoveries have been made in Turkana County, according to the EPRA report seen by Kenyans.co.ke .

EPRA reported that 95 exploration wells have been drilled across Kenya's sedimentary basins, with exploration activity providing data on the country's petroleum potential rather than confirming current commercial production from all the areas .

The country also has 50 petroleum exploration blocks , with 29 located in the Lamu Basin, 12 in the Tertiary Rift, six in the Anza Basin and three in the Mandera Basin.

EPRA said the government was preparing data packages for a new licensing round covering open blocks, potentially creating room for further exploration in areas that have not yet reached commercial development.

For South Lokichar, however, Kenya has moved beyond exploration, with the Field Development Plan for Blocks T6 and T7 covering the Ngamia, Amosing, Twiga and Ekales fields approved in November 2025 and subsequently ratified by Parliament in February 2026.

The development is expected to start with production of 20,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the Ngamia and Amosing fields, before a second phase raises output to a targeted 50,000 barrels per day as production expands to additional fields in South Lokichar.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke