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Oil and Gas

  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Market recognition

The upstream oil sector in Kenya is reported to be worth billions of dollars. There has been an increased interest in the petroleum sector since 2012 when drilling explorations discovered substantial deposits of oil off the coast of Kenya, providing significant development opportunities.   

Our lawyers assist all participants in the oil and gas sector. Our advice covers the entire value chain, ranging from upstream, midstream and downstream operations.

Capabilities

  • Project due diligence
  • Regulatory framework
  • Permits and licenses
  • Production sharing contracts
  • Risk analysis and mitigation

Experience includes:

  • Advising an international oil and gas exploration and development company on its rights under a production sharing contract with the Kenyan government for the acquisition of onshore exploration blocks.
  • Acting for a Kenyan subsidiary of an international energy company, on its rights under three (3) production sharing contracts awarded by the Kenyan government for the acquisition of deep water and ultra-deepwater exploration blocks.
  • Acting for the Federal Republic of Somalia in developing a model production sharing agreement (PSA) and all supporting procedural documentation by way of a toolkit to guide the Somali Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and the Somali Petroleum Authority in the management of upstream petroleum activities, and profit-sharing of the country’s petroleum resources. Our scope included preparing a model PSA meeting international standards and capacity building training to government officials, government agencies and local lawyers on the Model PSA and the negotiation manual.
  • Acting for the Federal Republic of Somalia in developing its mining legislation, subsidiary regulations to operationalize the mining legislation, and capacity building activities in the mining sector. Our scope included advising the Government on the review and amendments of its mining laws, development of a model mining contract, and capacity building training to government officials, government agencies and local lawyers on structuring, drafting and negotiating mining contracts.
  • Advising an international oil company on the licenses required to provide synthetic drill cuttings and waste management services in Kenya.
  • Acting for the Kenya national oil company in a due diligence review exercise in relation to the purchase of various assets from another oil company.
  • Acting for a public limited liability company incorporated in the United States of America, and a leading oil and gas service company, on its establishment of a legal presence in Kenya.
  • Advising a natural oils company in the acquisition of an equity stake in a company owning certain refinery facilities in Mombasa.
  • Acting for a limited liability company incorporated in the United Kingdom regarding its oil and gas interests in Kenya.
  • Acting for the Government of an East African country on its oil and gas operations.
  • Generally advising clients in the petroleum sector on regulatory matters and compliance on a routine basis.
  • Ranked Band 1 in Projects & Energy (Chambers & Partners 2025)
  • Ranked Band 1 in Banking & Finance (Chambers & Partners, 2019 - 2025)
  • Ranked Tier 1 in Privatisation & Projects (The Legal 500, 2019-2024)
  • Ranked Tier 1 in Banking, Finance and Capital Markets (The Legal 500, 2019 - 2024)
  • Ranked Tier 1 in Finance & Corporate (IFLR1000, 2019-2023)
  • Ranked in Projects Development (IFLR1000, 2018-2024)
  • IKM and DLA Piper awarded “Transportation and Infrastructure Team of the Year” (African Legal Awards, 2016)