LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) – Tullow Oil has stopped work at its Kenyan oilfield and halted trucking operations due to security issues, Chief Executive Paul McDade told Reuters on Wednesday.
Tullow is aiming for a final investment decision on its $2.9 billion Kenya project in late 2019, which would open up the country’s oil industry to exports.
“What you saw locally was the local people, the community… using the trucking operation as a lever really to demonstrate to the national government that the security situation on the ground had to improve,” McDade said.
“It’s not a big issue for us,” he said. “We’d expect to be up there working, getting the field back operating again and trucks moving again in the near future. But it’s important to take the time out so that when we do return… we have a more secure environment.”
Tullow is targeting production in Kenya of at least 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day after first oil in 2021/22.
