Kenya will wait two more weeks before receiving the results of the Kajiado natural gas samples sent to the US last year for tests.
Inkokirding’a village residents have been waiting for the results for months since the discovery of natural gas last year in a farm in the area. They want to know what became of the tests the state-owned National Oil Corporation of Kenya commisioned. Nock owns the exploration block where the gas was found.
On Friday, Nock broke its silence and its corporate department announced Kenyans will have to wait for two more weeks before they get results. Corporate affairs manager Lawrence Njenga had told the Star the firm expected to receive the results around January 23, but that did not happen. He said the delay could have been caused by the year-end festivities.
US firm contracted
“As soon as we get the results, we will hand them over to the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. The ministry will then make public the results because it will no longer be our prerogative. We will have done our bit once we hand over the report,” he said on the phone.
Nock had said the results would establish whether the deposits are commercially viable. However, the Star has established Nock contracted American oil and gas logistics giant Weatherford International at the end of last year to analyse the samples.
This came about following preliminary surveys which established Kajiado has gas deposits. Workers sinking a borehole discovered the resource by chance in the farm of a businessman in Ongata Rongai. Nock operates petrol stations and is also involved in oil and gas exploration.