Kenya is set to make the shipment of the first consignment of its oil which is set to be flagged off by President Uhuru Kenyatta at the port Of Mombasa.

The East Africa powerhouse officially sold off its first consignment of black gold through a bidding process which was won by China's state-owned ChemChina earlier this month. The consignment of 200,000 barrels fetched $12 million.

This implies that the sweet light crude sold at $60 per barrel, an uptick of nearly 40 per cent above the $43 per barrel that the government had set as the break-even point for the Early Oil Pilot Scheme.

London-based Tullow Oil currently has exploration rights and oilfields in Turkana.

“(Some) 200,000 barrels of oil have been safely delivered to Mombasa. Tullow expects East Africa's first export cargo of oil to be sold and lifted in the third quarter of 2019,” the multinational said in its trading update.

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Tullow estimates that Kenya’s onshore fields in Turkana hold 560 million barrels of oil and expects them to produce up to 100,000 barrels per day from 2022.

President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed confidence that the oil trade would be a key element in expanding the economy as well as a major tool for development and poverty alleviation.

“So, I think we have started the journey and it is up to us to ensure that those resources are put to the best use to make our country both prosperous and to ensure we eliminate poverty,” said President Kenyatta.

Header Image Credits: The East African