By John Njiraini

Kenya’s hopes for the discovery of oil will next month be realised or crushed yet again.

The Chinese company that is drilling one of the most prospective oil wells in North Eastern is expected to complete the works and announce whether the country has oil or not.

National Oil Corporation Managing Director Mwendia Nyaga yesterday said over 1,000 metres remain to be drilled at the Boghal-1 well in Block 9 of the Anza Basin, something that could end Kenya’s long wait for oil discovery.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has, so far, sunk 4,456 metres out of the 5,556 metres depth required to reach the black gold.

"We expect CNOOC to complete drilling between end of March and mid April. This is when we will know whether we have oil," said Nyaga.

He added that although no discovery has been made yet, the discovery of oil and natural gas in neighbouring countries and geological studies have raised optimism that Kenya could strike the commodity.

A matter of time

"There are indications that Kenya has oil and that is why we keep on drilling. We believe its just a matter of time," he said.

So far, Kenya which started prospecting for oil in the 1960s, has drilled 31 wells but all have turned negative.

The country has 36 wells, 23 of which have been leased out to international oil exploration companies. This, however, compares badly with countries in west and north Africa where more than 30,000 wells have been drilled. CNOOC, which started works on Block 9 in October last year, is expected to spend about Sh2 billion in the exercise.