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{
    "id": 788943,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/788943/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 197,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Musau",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2440,
        "legal_name": "Vincent Musyoka Musau",
        "slug": "vincent-musyoka-musau"
    },
    "content": "This honourable House represents Kenyans. The honourable Members need to go far in creating goodwill because it is not just about this particular resource. Maybe tomorrow we are going to find another resource and we need public goodwill. This Bill proposes to create an authority to manage issues to do with upstream petroleum but you will have noted that with the Energy Bill we have dispensed with, we have Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). It is our feeling as a Committee that there is no point duplicating it. Tomorrow we are going to have another nuclear authority or another potential source of energy. There is no need to create another authority. It is our feeling that all these need to come together under maybe the ERC and we create departments to manage the subsectors. That is also going to save the country on expenditure. In information and reporting, you may be surprised that when we first hit oil in Turkana, London was the first one to know before our Minister knew. This is terrible because it influences markets. Therefore, this Bill is very firm. We have tried to be deliberately punitive to contractors who release information prematurely before that information goes to our Government. That is properly addressed. There is also information in as far as what the contractor is doing. Once the contractor signs the production sharing contract, he is expected to do field development plan that indicates the number of barrels of oil to be produced within a certain period of time. We do not want contractors who say they are doing “a”, “b”, “c” and “d”, but they are actually doing other things and not releasing that information to the Government. One thing that also needs to be addressed in this Bill that does not come out clearly is the audit of the contractor. Basically, what we believe is the information we are getting from the contractor. We are supposed to pay contractors a certain percentage until they recoup all their investment. Therefore, it is very possible that they exaggerate the cost of exploration. How do we know the truth if we do not invest in an auditor who is stationed at the point of exploration and production? Waste management is an issue. Oil has a by-product called brine which has effects. We engaged the public through public participation. Some say that once you are exposed to this, you will not give birth or impregnate somebody. We are yet to find the truth around that but we all agree that there are side effects. There are contractors who drill and leave exposed oils that can endanger the local community. We will try as a Parliament to be very punitive to these reckless contractors. We need to move as Parliament swiftly and address potential issues of compulsory acquisition. Remember a contractor who has been given authority to explore…"
}