Nairobi – Tullow Oil is set to begin an oil seismic (scanning) survey around the Lake Victoria area in various parts of Kisumu. The survey is part of the Kenyan government’s efforts to explore minerals in the region believed to have oil deposits.

The firm has already discovered commercial oil deposits in the remote Northern Kenyan district of Turkana. Its estimated discoveries in the basin, as of mid-January, amount to over 600 million barrels of oil. It believes overall potential for the basin, which Tullow plans to fully assess over the next two years, is in excess of one billion barrels of oil.

Infrastructure executive Vincent Kodera said the survey will help establish potential oil areas in the area. 

The company’s technicians had visited various sub-counties in Nyanza region for oil prospecting in 2012, he added. 

Kodera said the survey is expected to run for six months and will be undertaken in Nyakach, Muhoroni, Nyando and along the lake. 

He said the Tullow has already secured a certificate of exploration from the Ministry of Energy.