CNBC Africa: Africa Oil wants deal to reduce stake in Kenya fields by early 2016: CEO

Africa Oil, which has a 50 per cent stake in Kenyan fields, wants to offer part of its holding by early 2016 to a new partner. The oil company is hoping that this can help it fund development, the chief executive said.

Africa Oil and its existing partner Tullow Oil, which holds the other 50 per cent, have found more than 600 million barrels of recoverable reserves. A final decision to develop the fields is expected in the first quarter of 2016.

The discovery is part of a string of oil and gas finds stretching from Uganda and along Africa's east coast that have made the region one of the world's hottest untapped hydrocarbon provinces. Output could reach global markets in 2018 or 2019.

"Before project sanction in 2016, we probably would like to have a partner," Africa Oil CEO Keith Hill told Reuters, although he said the plan was "not carved in stone" and the company could finance development itself if needed.
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