By now you have probably heard that Apache Corporation struck a natural gas well –Mbawa 1 well off the coast of Lamu the other day. A few days later, the government announced that the natural gas is not commercially viable.
What they never quite explained to you however is what precisely natural gas is and what difference is has from the gas inside the cylinder in your house. You might also not have understood what they meant by saying the gas was not commercially viable.
Commercial non-viability of the natural gas simply means that the deposits discovered are not large enough for commercial exploration purposes like exporting. The total amount of the gas found is not sufficient to be commercial. Thus, the cost of installing the infrastructure for mining and operations will outweigh the output revenue from selling the gas making it not a worthwhile venture. According to Apache, the well should have at least contained 3 trillion cubic feet (85 billion cubic metres) of natural gas to make it worthwhile to install the infrastructure needed to produce, liquefy and distribute it.
And what is natural gas?
Natural gas gas is a highly versatile gas that is used primarily for heating and cooking. It is delivered to houses through a main network of pipes and is accessible for appliances through gas bayonets in the home. It is referred to as natural because it is drilled right from the ground to be used. In Kenya, what we use is LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). This is a product of crude oil distillation. LPG has more energy than natural gas making it more expensive than natural gas.
Apart from being a clean source of energy, the huge benefit of natural gas is that it’s continuously available through the network of pipes as opposed to LPG which is delivered in tanks. There is a always a cost incurred to have LPG tanks replaced and you can run out of gas at an inconvenient time, say when you’ve just placed your Ugali on the stove. We however don’t have piped natural gas in Kenya yet.