Nairobi, June 2 -- The withdrawal of two Turkana Oil joint venture partners, Africa Oil and TotalEnergies, who each held 25 percent ownership of the project, was not a surprise as they had announced they were searching for strategic investors to buy their interests.

Even Tullow Oil, the 50 percent principal shareholder and joint venture operator, will likely follow suit. It was also announced that two Indian oil firms and a Chinese State oil firm are seeking to acquire interests in the commercialisation of Turkana oil which is estimated at 120,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The government is yet to announce the details of the Field Development Plan (FDP)submitted by Tullow.

Since oil was discovered in Turkana in 2012, global oil markets ha...