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Friday April 29, 2016 | DAILY NATION
BUSINESS
SAMSUNG PROFIT UP
Early release of the electronic giant’s Galaxy
phone helps firm achieve great results
PAGE 37
Mining report
(From left) businessman
Aly Khan Satchu, Base
Titanium Limited general
manager Joe Schwarez, Base
Titanium Managing Director
Tim Carsten and Mining
Cabinet Secretary Dan
Kazungu during the release
of mining firm’s report at
the Serena Hotel in Nairobi
yesterday. The report said the
country’s mining potential is
enormous.
SALATON NJAU | NATION
Energy> Explorer to focus on developing fields in areas where discoveries have been made
Tullow ups oil reserves estimates
in Turkana to one billion barrels
British firm
renews
efforts to
find more
fields after
recently
cutting
on capital
outlays on
low crude
prices
BY ALLAN ODHIAMBO
[email protected]
U
K’s Tullow Oil has raised
estimates of reserves in
Turkana to a billion
barrels and targets to resume
exploration to consolidate
recoverable oil ahead of next
year when Kenya plans crude
exports.
The firm had heavily cut back
on exploration activity within the
basin on the effects of low global
oil prices and instead focused on
evaluating already drilled wells
to lower pressure on its work
budget.
“The group continues to review
options for re-starting the exploration campaign in this basin to
de-risk the overall upside potential of 1 billion barrels,” Tullow
said yesterday even as it raised
its recoverable oil estimates in
Kenya by 25 per cent to 750
million barrels.
Tullow with its partners Africa
Oil and A.P. Moller-Maersk had
previously put recoverable reserves within the South Lokichar
basin at 600 million barrels.
“Ongoing assessment of
recently completed South Lokichar appraisal programme
in Kenya indicates potential to
increase recoverable resources
up to 750 million barrels with
further exploration potential
supporting an upside of 1 bil-
The group
continues to
review options
for re-starting
the exploration
campaign in this
basin to de-risk
the overall upside
potential of 1
billion barrels,”
Tullow statement
lion barrels,” it said.
Kenya has expanded the area
targeted for exploration on
blocks 10BB and 13T following the recent discovery of oil
in three fields within the Lake
Turkana basin.
An update by the Energy
ministry’s Petroleum Directorate said the move follows
discoveries in Etuko, Ewoi and
Ekunyuk prospects—making up
the nine finds for the proposed
field development plan area in
the South Lokichar basin.
The British firm in March announced an additional discovery
of potential oil reserves in the
Cheptuket-1 well in the Kerio
Valley Basin, which could mean
opening up a second oil basin
for development in the country
south of finds already made.
Tullow said it will focus on
developing the oil wells, buoyed
by higher reserve estimates and
a decision by Kenya to build its
own crude pipeline.
“Tullow will now work with the
Government of Kenya and our
partners on a range of options for
the independent development of
these resources including early
production using existing infrastructure, which would provide
valuable reservoir data ahead of
a full field development with an
export pipeline” the explorer
said.
Kenya is considering moving
its crude oil to Mombasa by road
and railway as part of an “early
harvest” programme.
The Energy ministry has
offered Rift Valley Railways a
contract to move the oil over
a distance of more than 800
kilometres from Eldoret to
Mombasa.
Energy and Petroleum Cabinet
Secretary Charles Keter told a
parliamentary committee that the
country targeted to start exporting 2,000 barrels of crude oil per
day by rail and road as it awaits
the completion of a planned oil
pipeline linking Lokichar to
Lamu through Isiolo.
Family Bank opts for insider to replace chief executive
BY BRIAN NGUGI
Family Bank has appointed an insider to succeed
outgoing chief executive Peter Munyiri. Mr David
Thuku, the new boss has been the lender’s director
of retail banking since 2013.
He takes over from Mr Munyiri who has been at
the helm of the financier for five years and is set to
leave in June when his contract expires.
“Mr Thuku’s appointment heralds the bank’s
renewed consumer-focused initiatives that are
aimed at providing unparalleled banking products
and services. We are certain that Mr Thuku will offer
his vast experience and together with our competent
management team and staff, propel the bank to
even greater heights, “ said Family Bank Chairman
Wilfred Kiboro in a statement yesterday.
Held senior positions
Mr Thuku, a career banker, held several senior
positions over a period of two decades prior to
joining Family Bank.
He had stints at Standard Chartered Bank and
Barclays Bank where he worked in various depart-
ments including investment management, project
management, product and sales innovation, secured
lending and business banking.
“The new CEO will be charged with steering
Family Bank’s strategy by positioning the lender
as a one-stop-shop providing a combination of
retail and consumer products, SME, corporate
banking as well as trade finance products,” said
the statement.
Mr Kiboro praised Mr Munyiri’s leadership provided during his tenure, saying he spearheaded a
successful expansion and growth strategy.
BRIEFLY
BANKING
Imperial Bank lobby
pushes for end to suits
A lobby group pushing for quicker
payment of large account deposits
still held at the collapsed Imperial
Bank has called on fellow depositors
to avoid filing multiple lawsuits that
may delay payment of their cash. The
IBL Depositors Lobby Group has
more than 2,000 members, mainly
business owners whose accounts hold
more than the Sh1 million maximum
that Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has
authorised the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) to pay out
to account holders of the bank. Its
call comes in the wake of a case filed
by Mombasa-based billionaire Ashok
Doshi and his wife Amit Doshi against
CBK and Imperial Bank seeking to
stop the use of rival banks to pay the
collapsed bank’s small depositors.
-Charles Mwaniki
ALCOHOL
Diageo bags Sh1.78bn
dividend from brewer
Multinational brewer Diageo is
set to walk away with approximately
Sh1.78 billion from the special dividends that its subsidiary East African
Breweries Limited has declared from
the sale of its glass-making business.
The regional brewer has announced a
special payout of Sh4.50 a share which
will see Diageo, which owns 50.03 per
cent of the brewer (395.6 million of the
firm’s issued shares) get a tidy payout.
East African Breweries sold off Central Glass Industries to South Africa’s
Consol Glass in September for Sh4.5
billion, having told its shareholders
that the money would go towards reducing existing debt and investing in
its core business. The brewer has now
changed its position, opting to wire a
majority of this divestiture windfall to
its stockholders, with roughly Sh900
million now expected to be used to settle a debt it owes its parent company.
— Mugambi Mutegi
ENERGY
Kenya drops 700MW
gas plant set up plan
Kenya has dropped plans to construct a 700-megawatt (MW) natural gas power plant near Mombasa,
fearing excess supply would lead to
expensive electricity bills for homes
and businesses. The Energy ministry
reckons that the plant could leave the
country with excess power, forcing
consumers to pay for capacity charges
on idle machines in what could reverse
the quest to deliver cheaper electricity. The gas-powered power plant was
part of the government’s plan to add
5,000 megawatts to Kenya’s existing
2, 294 MW generation capacity in the
push to diversify power sources. Peak
demand for electricity is currently at
about 1, 600 megawatts, leaving the
country with nearly 700 MW of excess
power.
— Neville Otuki