A Chinese firm, ChemChina through its London-headquartered trading arm, was selected from a list of eight firms that had bid to buy the country’s 200,000 barrels of oil.
The oil had been produced on a pilot basis.
On August 1, the government announced that the oil produced in Turkana and stacked at the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited’s (KPRL) storage facilities in Mombasa, would be sold at Ksh1.2 billion ($12 million).
Kenya’s crude was sold at an average of $60 per barrel (Ksh 6,180) compared to the global trading prices on Thursday, August 15 which was $58 (Ksh 5,974).
This would mean that Kenya’s oil would be going for a premium of over $1.60 (Ksh 164.8) per barrel above the international market prices.
The Petroleum and Mining Ministry announced that ChemChina UK Ltd had outbid seven other companies from Europe and Asia that had expressed interest in acquiring Kenya’s oil.
“ChemChina UK Ltd was selected following a competitive tender process through which an invitation to bid was issued to prospective buyers on 26th July 2019, and to which there was strong response with eight bids received from international firms representing European and Asian refineries,
“Note that ChemChina UK Ltd was selected on the basis of their offered price and according to standard international terms,” read a statement from the ministry.
ChemChina, also referred to as the China National Chemical Corporation, operates in six different sectors, among them oil processing, agrochemical production and tire & rubber production.
Information on its website discloses it has nine refineries with a combined annual crude oil processing capacity of 25 million tonnes.
