Crude oil will now be exported at least three times a year.
The current output is said to be still low, with vessels requiring ten times the amount of barrels being produced daily.
According to Petroleum principal secretary Andrew Kamau, the oil will be stored at Mariakani refinery tanks for between three and four months and amass adequate quantities to fill a ship. “Kenyan oil will be exported about three times in a year. The oil must be accumulated for months to fill a ship,” he said.
This low level production is expected to run until 2021 when Kenya expects to have its own pipeline. Construction of the 865-kilometre pipeline between Lokichar and Lamu was estimated last year to be completed in the second quarter of 2021 at a cost of Sh210 billion.
The line will enable Kenya to pump out about 100,000 barrels a day for export.
Tullow has stored more that 70,000 barrels of oil in Lokichar in preparation for the early export plan.
This month, the country is expected to transport at least 2,000 barrels per day from Turkana via road to storage tanks in Mombasa.
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