Kenya has failed to strike oil and gas deposits in the coastal strip that has been at the centre of an international border dispute with Somalia for years.
Seismic surveys at Mlima-1 well, which is known as Block L11B in the Lamu Basin, revealed that the wells were dry, ending a 10-year search for oil in the coastline that had emerged as one of the world’s hottest exploration prospects.
According to Business Daily, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) said that ENI Kenya Business Venture (BV) folded the project before mid this year after it failed to trace deposits of oil and gas in the area.
EPRA had granted Eni the exploration permit in 2012 amid protests from Somalia’s government that Kenya was offering the blocks illegally.
ENI had been mapping for deposits of oil and gas in the Lamu Basin since April last year despite the border row with Somalia over the coastal strip that spans 100,000 square-kilometres.
The failed Lamu Basin project leaves the country with three exploration basins in Anza, Mandera and Tertiary Rift Basin.
