Last year, TotalEnergies NYSETTE and Africa Oil OTCPKAOIFF announced they had abandoned the multi-billion dollar South Lokichar project in Kenya, leaving British exploration firm Tullow Oil OTCPKTUWLF OTCPKTUWOY as the oilfield's sole owner following a multiyear effort to get development off the ground. The two partners held a 25% stake apiece in the Lokichar field but withdrew after an unsuccessful drawn-out process to find a fourth partner.
That was the first impairment the company has done since 2020 and reflects an increasingly pessimistic position on the ability of the Turkana project to proceed to commercial production. The company was hopeful that it would be able to write back all the impairments, which include a sum of $410 million written off in 2020, if its latest FDP was accepted by the Kenyan government. Unfortunately, the rejection of the FDP means the company will be forced to write off the entire $242.