This archive report was first published on 25 August 2020.
Published on August 25, 2020, Tullow Oil has resumed its operations in Turkana, Kenya, after lifting its force majeure notice. The company's partner, Africa Oil Corp, announced the resumption of activities following the improvement in the operating environment.
According to an update from Africa Oil Corp, the lifting of the force majeure notice was facilitated by the easing of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions worldwide and the resumption of local and international flights, allowing the restart of various workstreams under the project.
Partners in the project will now discuss the way forward, charting the course for incentives from an earlier agreement. This comes after the company initially issued a notice of force majeure, citing the pandemic's impact on its operations.
Additionally, the pandemic's effects on travel restrictions and tax changes worsened the project's economics, which were further exacerbated by the global oil price crash.
Meanwhile, Petroleum Cabinet Secretary John Munyes has announced that the government is conducting a forensic audit of the costs incurred by Tullow Oil. The audit aims to determine how much the company has legally spent on the project, with the goal of resolving challenges affecting the project by September.
