Tullow exit puts Kenyan firm Gulf Energy in driver's seat for oil riches

Workers walk past storage tanks at Tullow Oil's Ngamia 8 drilling site in Lokichar, Turkana County, Kenya, February 8, 2018. Picture taken February 8, 2018. [Courtesy]

Influential Kenyan energy and infrastructure group Gulf Energy has agreed to acquire Tullow Oil's entire Kenyan holdings for a minimum of $120 million (Sh15.4 billion).

The landmark move positions the local firm—which has risen to prominence in recent years following lucrative State-backed business deals—as the key player in the long-stalled Turkana oil project and its potential future riches. 

The deal announced on Tuesday by the London-listed Tullow marks a significant shift in the landscape of Kenya's long-held ambitions to become a commercial oil producer.