Notice, Vol. CXXVII No. 150, page 4238

What the notice says

1. Legislation notice

   Link

   Issuing authority

   Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum

   Recommending body

   Authority

   Body

   National Upstream Petroleum Advisory Committee, Government of Kenya, Ministry, County Government

   Printed notice number

   XXXX

   Draft title

   DRAFT PETROLEUM (UPSTREAM PETROLEUM MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION) REGULATIONS, 2025

   Purpose

   Draft Regulations for public comments

   Regulation 1

   1. These Regulations may be cited as the Petroleum (Upstream Petroleum Management and Administration) Regulations, 2025.

   Regulation 2

   2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, “Act” means the Petroleum Act (Cap. 308); “Advisory Committee” means National Upstream Petroleum Advisory Committee as provided in the Act; “Participating interest” means an interest held by the Government of Kenya directly or through an appointee in the conduct of upstream petroleum operations; “Permit holder” means any person who holds a non-exclusive exploration permit; “Petroleum policy” means the national petroleum policy provided for under Section 5 of the Act; “Strategic plan” means the national upstream petroleum strategic plan.

   Regulation 3

   3. These Regulations shall apply to the management and administration of upstream petroleum.

   Regulation 4

   4. (1) The Cabinet Secretary in consultation with the Advisory Committee may divide or redivide any unlicensed onshore or offshore areas into blocks. (3) When constituting petroleum blocks the Cabinet Secretary shall ensure the potential for efficient exploration using prudent exploration methods is realised. (4) In establishing the size, shape and location of blocks due consideration shall be given to— (a) any existing rights, uses or other restrictions relating to the areas in question; (b) available technical data; (c) any individual topographical features that may require special consideration in the division of blocks; (d) retaining as far as practically possible a uniform size and shape for each block; and, (e) any other matter the Cabinet Secretary may deem relevant. (5) Blocks shall be organised into numbered areas defined by specific geographical co-ordinates. (6) Following the establishment of any new block or a change in the constitution of any block, the newly constituted blocks; (a) shall be published in the Kenya Gazette; (b) shall be published in the website of the Ministry; (c) may be published in any electronic media or at least two newspapers of national circulation.

   Regulation 5

   5. (1) The Cabinet Secretary, upon the publication of the national petroleum policy shall commence the development or review of, the national petroleum strategic plan which shall guide the implementation of the national petroleum policy. (2) The Cabinet Secretary, shall within forty-five (45) days after the publication of a national petroleum policy; (a) identify all relevant stakeholders in the petroleum operations. (b) inform all stakeholders of the procedure and methodology for the iteration of the strategic plan; (c) communicate to stakeholders the scope of the strategic plan. (d) Assess the impact of petroleum operations to the local community. (e) Assess the potential environmental, economic and, social impact of petroleum operations. (f) Assess Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) values applicable for petroleum operations (3) The Cabinet Secretary shall ensure proper records are maintained of any proceedings or submissions in relation to development or review of the strategic plan.

   Regulation 6

   6. (1) During the stakeholder consultation, the Cabinet Secretary shall publish a notice of stakeholder consultation on the website of the Ministry, any electronic media, any two newspapers of nationwide circulation, and the Kenya Gazette. (2) A notice to relevant stakeholders concerning consultation on a strategic plan shall— (a) set out a summary of the strategic plan in sufficient detail to enable stakeholders to engage effectively in the consultation. (b) explain how stakeholders may access the details of strategic plan. (c) invite written comments on or objections to the strategic plan. (d) specify the person or body to which the comments are to be submitted and any required format for submissions; and (e) specify a date by which the comments are required to be received in order to be considered in the consultation, which shall allow a reasonable time period for the submission of comments after publication of the notice. (3) In the course of any stakeholder consultation required under these Regulations, the Cabinet Secretary shall make arrangements for the public to obtain copies, at a reasonable cost, of relevant documents relating to the strategic plan which are in the possession of the Cabinet Secretary. (4) The Cabinet Secretary shall ensure that comments or objections, received through the consultation process, are properly documented and considered.

   Regulation 7

   7. (1) The strategic plan shall contain such information as the Cabinet Secretary may consider appropriate which may include the following— (a) any initiatives designed to achieve the objectives and priorities identified in the national petroleum policy on operations; (b) The budgetary requirements for the implementation of the strategic plan; (c) an elaboration of the state institutions and parties with responsibility for implementing elements of the strategic plan; (d) implementation matrix of the strategic plan; (e) elaboration of any potential challenges to implementing the actions and consider any possible strategies to mitigate the effects of those challenges; (f) Monitoring and evaluation criteria of the strategic plan.

   Regulation 8

   8. The Cabinet Secretary shall: a. publish the final strategic plan on the Ministry’s Website; and, b. Inform the public through the website of the Ministry, any electronic media or in at least two newspapers of national circulation of the publication of the document and how the document may be accessed.

   Regulation 9

   9. (1) The Cabinet Secretary shall within three (3) months after the end of each financial year, prepare and publish on the Ministry’s website a report on the implementation of the strategic plan. (2) The report on the implementation of the petroleum strategic plan shall provide sufficient information to assess the progress and effectiveness of actions undertaken with respect to each element of the strategic plan.

   Regulation 10

   10. (1) The Cabinet Secretary may, from time to time, initiate a licensing exercise for the allocation of petroleum rights, through issuance of a non-exclusive exploration permit or entering into a petroleum agreement where the Cabinet Secretary is satisfied that— (a) there are open areas or blocks that are suitable for licensing; (b) licensing the areas or blocks shall be in accordance with the Act and any applicable national petroleum policy and strategy; or, (c) any other preliminary assessment the Cabinet Secretary may require has been carried out and any other results of such assessment(s) have been sufficiently considered.

   Regulation 11

   11. (1) An application for a non-exclusive exploration permit under regulations 15, 16 or 17 shall be made by a juridical person by completing and submitting the application form in the First Schedule to the Authority for issuance of a permit in accordance with the Act and these Regulations. (2) The information provided with the form shall be sufficiently detailed to enable a proper consideration of— (a) the purpose of the application; (b) the identity of the applicant; (c) the proposed area; (d) the proposed work plan; (e) potential environment, social and economic impacts, including proposed mitigations in respect of the proposed non-exclusive exploration activity. (f) the technical capacity of the applicant; (g) the financial capacity of the applicant; (h) the legal capacity of the applicant; (i) the financial capacity of the applicant; (j) detailed information on the technology to be applied; and, (k) any proposed commercial arrangements with respect to the use and marketing of data obtained under the non-exclusive exploration permit. (3) All applications shall be accompanied by the requisite fee as specified in Eighth Schedule. (4) The Authority shall, in evaluating other criteria in an application under sub-regulation 1, satisfy itself that an applicant possesses the technical, financial, legal and professional capacity to undertake the petroleum operations in the proposed area.

   Regulation 12

   12. (1) A non-exclusive exploration permit issued under these Regulations shall be issued by the Authority in the form provided under the Second Schedule and shall— (a) Identify with reasonable precision the geographical area to which the permit applies; (b) state the permitted activities for data collection; (c) allow data collection activities for a specified duration not longer than three (3) years; and, (d) state any other such restrictions and conditions as the Authority may deem fit. (2) The Authority shall inform the County Government affected by the non-exclusive exploration activities of the nature and status of such non-exclusive exploration activities.

   Regulation 13

   13. (1) Prior to issuing a non-exclusive exploration permit, the Authority and an applicant shall enter into an agreement governing aspects of permitted activities and the use of data generated by those activities, the duration of which may extend beyond the period of the permit’s validity, and on any other matter the Authority may require to be included. (2) A summary of the terms and conditions of the agreement may be attached to the permit with such exclusions as may be deemed necessary to preserve the confidentiality of commercially sensitive material. (3) In the event of a conflict arising from the interpretation or application between the provisions of a non-exclusive exploration permit and the accompanying agreement, the provisions the accompanying agreement shall take precedence.

   Regulation 14 1

   14. (1) A non-exclusive exploration permit or any accompanying agreement shall prescribe the terms governing the following aspects as applicable—

Everyone named

Corrections 0

Corrected by

No corrigendum in the issues we hold.

Cites

Section 5 of the Act

Cite

Permalink funua.com/issues/2025/150/notice-p26/.

About this data

Source

Official PDF of Vol. CXXVII No. 150, from Kenya Law

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