Kenyans will be given priority for management jobs and half of the technical roles in foreign-owned oil firms seeking to enter the country’s crude exploration, production, storage and transport sectors, according to new proposed regulations.
The proposed Petroleum (Local Content) Regulations, 2025, will compel foreign-owned oil firms entering these sectors to ensure that all management positions are occupied by Kenyans within 10 years of commencing operations.
The firms will also be expected to reserve 30 percent of all management slots for Kenyans in order to get an operating licence, and increase this number to 75 percent and 100 percent after five and ten years respectively.
Ten percent of the slots for technical staff will also be reserved for Kenyans as a condition for regulatory approval to start operations, increasing progressively to 40 percent and 55 percent after five and ten years respectively.
Kenya is aiming to begin commercial production of oil in South Lokichar and will also open ten oil blocks to interested firms from September this year. Additionally, there are plans to build a crude oil pipeline linking Turkana to the port of Mombasa, which will create job opportunities that the government intends to prioritise for Kenyans.
“The succession sub-plan shall make provision for and require Kenyans to understudy a position held by a foreigner for a maximum period of four (4) years after which the position occupied by the foreigner shall be assumed by the Kenyan,” the regulations state.
Under the conditions, the firms will be required to employ Kenyans to shadow expatriates in their roles for four years, ensuring that they are competent by the time they take over.
Besides the management and technical jobs, the firms will be required to reserve 80 percent of all other jobs for Kenyans as part of the licence approval conditions. This figure will then rise to 100 percent after five years.
These conditions come at a time when Kenya is expected to approve a plan for the development and operationalisation of three oil-rich blocks in South Lokichar, Turkana County.
Approval of the plan (Field Development Plan) by the end of this month will enable Kenya to move to the next phase of commercialising the oil in blocks 10BB, 13T and 10BA in South Lokichar.
Gulf Energy recently acquired full ownership of the blocks from the British firm Tullow in a $120 million (Sh15.49 billion at current exchange rates) deal, with payments to be made in three tranches of $40 million (Sh5.16 billion) each. The final payment is expected not later than June 2033.
Besides the South Lokichar oil fields, Kenya is also set to open up ten highly prospective blocks in the Lamu and Anza basins for the first licensing round, which is set for September this year.
Kenya will also build the Lokichar-Lamu Crude Oil Pipeline (LLCOP), which will move fuel from the oil fields to the port of Mombasa for export and refining abroad.
The firms will be required to submit two reports a year to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra), detailing key aspects such as the nationality of the employees and any skills shortages in the Kenyan workforce.
Additionally, they must show proof that no Kenyan is qualified for a position for which the company wishes to hire a foreign national.
“The application (for work permits for foreigners) referred to under sub-regulation (1) shall include evidence that Kenyan nationals are not qualified for the job and a training plan for the replacement of the foreigner with Kenyan citizens,” the regulations read.
Kenya is keen to unlock job creation opportunities amid a mounting unemployment crisis as the economy struggles to create quality jobs to absorb college and university graduates every year.
The overall unemployment rate in the country stood at 12 percent last year. The unemployment rate is higher among the youth.
