Blow for Kenya oil dream as Indian firms ditch Sh411b deal

Workers walk past storage tanks at Tullow Oil's Ngamia 8 drilling site in Lokichar, Turkana County, on February 8, 2018. [Reuters, File]

Kenya's petrodollar dreams have gone up in smoke after two Indian state-backed energy majors called off talks for buying a multi-billion stake in Tullow Oil's Lokichar oil field in Kenya.

The deal was estimated last year to be worth between $2 billion (Sh274 billion) and $3 billion (Sh411 billion).

A news report by local Indian news media quoting people in the know said the decision to end discussions lasting several months was taken "after senior executives from the two Indian suitors visited Kenya in July last year."