Kenya has announced plans to roll out new oil and gas exploration blocks in the second half of 2026. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is establishing a national petroleum data centre to support upcoming competitive bid rounds, giving investors access to seismic, well and geological data before committing capital.
The move follows a major restructuring of Kenya’s petroleum acreage, which reduced the number of exploration blocks from 63 to 50. The reconfiguration was designed to align with international best practice and improve the commercial attractiveness of Kenya’s upstream sector, particularly in frontier basins.
Speaking in Nairobi, EPRA Director General Daniel Kiptoo said the data centre would be a “critical enabler” ahead of the planned licensing rounds, as global interest in upstream oil and gas begins to rebound.
“We are seeing a lot of interest from both national oil companies and private sector players from different regions of the world, but competition for capital remains intense. Capital is looking for a home, and Kenya must market itself well and offer the right incentives,” Kiptoo said.
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Challenges
Kenya’s upstream sector has faced significant headwinds in recent years, including the exit of several investors and the sale of the South Lokichar oil project by UK-based Tullow Oil. Financing dried up as banks grew reluctant to back new oil and gas developments in frontier markets amid climate change concerns and the global energy transition. However, shifting global energy policies and renewed support for upstream development have reopened financing channels.
“Banks were not willing to finance new oil and gas projects. But now, with the ‘drill, baby, drill’ push, there has been a lot of opening up of the upstream.This presents a window of opportunity for Kenya,” Kiptoo said.
Under the revised block map, 29 of the 50 reconstituted blocks are located in the Lamu Basin, covering onshore, offshore and transition zones. The Tertiary Rift has 12 blocks, the Anza Basin six, and the Mandera Basin three. The restructuring was carried out under Section 15(1) of the Petroleum Act, 2019, which allows the Cabinet Secretary, in consultation with the National Upstream Petroleum Advisory Committee, to redefine petroleum blocks through a Gazette notice.
Key changes included merging low- and medium-prospectivity areas to improve chances of discovery, optimising block sizes to make exploration programmes more manageable, and prioritising areas with stronger geoscientific indicators of hydrocarbons based on past drilling results.
The Ministry of Energy has indicated that at least 10 of the redesigned blocks will be offered to investors through competitive bidding in 2026. Meanwhile, Kenya is also pushing to finally bring its most advanced upstream project, the South Lokichar Basin in Turkana County into production. In 2025, Gulf Energy acquired the project from Tullow Oil in a deal valued at about US $120 million.
Commercial oil production and first exports are targeted for December 2026 or early 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval of a revised Field Development Plan. Initial output is expected to range between 20,000 and 50,000 barrels per day, with production later scaling above 60,000 barrels per day.
With redesigned exploration blocks, a centralised petroleum data centre, and improving global sentiment toward upstream investment, Kenya hopes to reposition itself as a credible destination for oil and gas exploration in a rapidly evolving global energy landscape.
