Kenya, Uganda Contractors Earned $83 million from Tullow Oil in 2015

Kenyan and Ugandan contractors earned 82.9 million from Tullow Oil operations in the respective countries in 2015 down from $104.8 million in the previous year according to the company’s corporate responsibility report.

Kenyan contractors earned the bigger chunk of these funds equal to $75 million while those in Uganda earned just $7.9 million a dip from $81.5 million and $20.3 million respectively.

The spending is a clear indication of activities in both countries where delays and a lack of a production license in Uganda has led to a drop in budgetary allocations.

The report further shows Tullow Oil provided 3,500 contractor and sub-contractor jobs in its supply chain (97% Kenyan nationals, 67% local)  in 2015 a figure that dropped to just 1,800 sub-contractor staff as the year wound down due to work programme scale back.

It is however not clear how much the company paid to governments in East Africa out of the total $391 paid in 2015.

The company adds that it is awaiting the passing of the Petroleum Act that requires Tullow to prioritise the employment and development of Kenyan nationals.

Currently, Tullow Kenya has over 194 permanent employees and contractors working in our Nairobi offices and in the field, 61% of whom are Kenyan nationals. Permanent staff who are nationals working in Tullow Kenya represent 78% of our employee base.

In Uganda Tullow Oil discloses that it has made good progress in 2015 on the management of legacy land access issues in our Uganda operations having now successfully delivered the majority of the compensation, targeting more than 200 Project Affected Persons (PAPs) in 15 well pad sites.

As part of the compensation package, voluntary financial management and assistance training was offered to PAPs and their spouses. Remaining grievances have been monitored and addressed via a newly established grievance management procedure that has been drafted in partnership with its joint venture partners: Total E&P Uganda and CNOOC Uganda Ltd.

Looking forward the picture is not so rosy as the company lowered in budgetary allocation for Kenya for the second straight year to just $100 million.