Nairobi, Dec. 7 -- Gulf Energy wants the government to extend the railway to Lokichar in Turkana County by 2030 to transport crude oil to the port of Mombasa, marking a departure from the State's earlier plan to build a pipeline.

The firm has in its Field Development Plan (FDP) proposed the construction of a meter-gauge railway (MGR) from Lokichar, then connect it to the main MGR line at Kitale, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyahururu, or Nanyuki.

The proposed construction of the railway, to be fully funded by the government, is a shift from the earlier plan to build an export pipeline from the oilfields to the port of Lamu at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion (Sh193.5 billion at current rates).

Read:Gulf Energy submits revised plan for Turkana oil...