VENTTURES AFRICA – Kenya is on its way to become East Africa first oil exporter following the first oil discovery in the country by Tullow Oil last year.

The East African nation is expected to start shipments in 2016, overtaking neighbouring Uganda where Tullow found crude more than seven years ago.

Tullow Oil plans to start pumping by next year, Chief Operating Officer Paul McDade told Bloomberg.

The UK-based oil exploration company said it has found more than 300 million barrels of oil (estimated) after making three discoveries in Kenya’s South Lokichar Basin.

According to the company, Kenya’s deposits may top 10 billion barrels – more than three times the U.K.’s remaining reserves.

Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, does not produce oil until five years ago. However since discoveries were made in the remote and underdeveloped Turkana region of Kenya’s Rift Valley, it has attracted oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell Plc and UK explorer, Tullow Oil Plc (TLW).

Regional head of macroeconomic research at Nairobi-based CfC Stanbic Bank Ltd., Phumulele Mbiyo, said oil will allow Kenya to “diversify export earnings and act as a catalyst for infrastructural spending, especially on the transport network.”

U.S. government data revealed that Kenya imports all its fuel, almost 80,000 barrels of oil a day at a daily cost of more than $8 million. It relies on exports such as coffee and tea to support the balance of trade.