Kenya’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum opened a call for proposals to name the country’s new crude oil from South Lokichar, giving the public until October 29 to submit suggestions.
The naming exercise coincides with commercial production of the light sweet Turkana crude scheduled to start on December 1, 2026, after drilling is set to begin on November 1, 2026.
Gulf Energy, the licence holder for Blocks T6 and T7, will initially ship the oil by truck to Mombasa for export.
The ministry said the chosen name will serve as Kenya’s commercial identity in the global oil market and must be registrable as a trademark both locally and internationally.
While no international rule mandates trading names, they help market recognition and allow traders to price premium products, as seen with Murban (UAE), West Texas Intermediate (USA) and Russia’s Urals and ESPO.
The Turkana crude is described as light sweet with low sulphur, making it cheaper and cleaner for producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, although its high wax content may raise logistical costs because it requires heated transport.
Test shipments of the oil between 2019 and 2020 reportedly earned discounts against Brent crude, which is sourced from fields between the United Kingdom and Norway.
Gulf Energy aims to produce 20,000 barrels per day in the first phase covering 2026-2032, before scaling up to 50,000 barrels per day from 2033.
Regional neighbours have already branded their oils, with Uganda naming its crude Pearl Sweet and Nigeria referring to its Bonny Light, while Kenya’s oil will compete with established benchmarks such as Brent, WTI and Murban.
