Japan Helps Kenya Search For Oil

Photo Credit:  Some rights reserved by US Army Africa via Flickr.

In a never ending quest for oil deals and joint oil ventures, the countries of Japan and Kenya joined forces to explore Kenya’s geography for valuable oil resources. The National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK) and Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) are jointly collaborating to evaluate Kenya’s land for commercial oil extraction.

The geophysical surveys will help the two companies to determine where drilling for oil will yield the best results.

If it seems like there is an ever increasing interest in African nations for their natural gas and oil resources, it’s because there have been significant oil findings as well as gas discoveries in Africa in recent years including in Uganda and Mozambique.

Joint ventures, like the one signed between Japan and Kenya, are often done because of the high prices associated with conducting surveys and drilling operations. Beside’s NOCK’s oil exploration endeavors, they’re also responsible for developing plans to build up Kenya’s infrastructure to help solidify the country as a global oil and gas leader.

Can we blame African nations for trying to develop their natural resources infrastructure? As the world struggles to meet an increasing demand for fossil fuels, all places that haven’t been checked or screened will surely be surveyed in the coming years.

We can’t blame them anymore than the Arctic sea oil exploration endeavors being taking on by Shell from the Finish Government. And what about the deeper and deeper offshore oil drilling projects being currently looked at? What is evident here is that we are witnessing a scramble for reserves in every corner of the Earth because of diminishing supplies in the established ones.

What we do know is that energy from oil is a major source of particulate matter, smog, and plenty of other toxic pollutants that contribute to various ailments and deaths every year. The world’s addiction to oil is also the root cause for various environmental issues including damage to eco-systems from oil spills in our ocean’s and rivers, poisoning of water supplies, worsening of climate change, and the polluting of the air in our communities.

What have we learned and what are we trying to do to minimize the negative effects of using oil as our main supply of energy?

Most people recognize that we should eventually move away from oil and into cleaner/alternative energies. As of right now, a slow transition seems to be taking hold with various governments around the world offering incentives for electric cars, solar panels, and bio-fuels to help wean off of oil. Emerging and developing countries are rising so fast that any switch to cleaner fuels in developed countries are being overtaken by rising demand for oil in developing countries in Africa and Asia.

The underlying problem is that as a global body, somewhere along the lines, we need to make an action plan. Stricter fuel efficiency standards should be required to achieve at least 60 miles per gallon or more. We also should invest in more public transportation projects and better alternative infrastructure projects that will encourage different modes of transportation and discourage auto-use. The list goes on and on.

In the end, we can promote public transportation, alternative energies, and individually decide to opt-in to future technologies right now.

I’ll simply end with a quote by the famous Mahatma Ghandi…

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”

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JT (423 Posts)

Just living life in Portland, Oregon and enjoying every day that goes by. I love the environment, and I love community, and I love being able to share my experiences and perspective with the world. Follow @EnvironmentBlog

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