Appendix A: Activation of Oil Exploration and Development in the Ethiopia–Kenya–South Sudan Transboundary Region1 Joshua S. Dimon2 with Claudia Carr While the Gibe III component of the Omo River basin development constitutes the most urgent, intensive and extensive threat to livelihoods along the lower Omo River and Lake Turkana, the peoples in this region are also under threat from other large-scale development programs. These too promise further restrictions of access to livelihood resources, including land grabs for large agri-business plantations along the lower Omo and, on an even larger scale, oil development. There has been a major expansion of oil exploration and development activities along Lake Turkana and the lower Omo basin in the last five years. The impacts of these developments will only compound Gibe III’s negative impacts on livelihoods in the region by further restricting pastoral territories, further abstracting water from the Omo and Lake Turkana for drilling, further reducing the water quality of the remaining water in the Omo River and Lake Turkana, and increasing the militarization of the region and potential for armed conflict. Current concessions for oil exploration in the region cover the entirety of Lake Turkana and the south Omo River, extending along the so-called tertiary rift valley zone of Ethiopia and the eastern branch of the East African Rift Valley. Exploration and, more recently, development of oil has been accelerating for the last five years in the region, although it is part of a much longer history of oil exploration. Contrary to news of brand-new interest/discoveries, exploration in this region has been going on for many years, without the prior knowledge of those living in the zones of exploration. The first exploration in the region was in the 1950s, with the first hints of oil resulting from shallow boring for water in Northwest Kenya in 1952 (Hedburg 1953). Exploration picked up again in the 1980s with help from the World Bank in both Kenya and Ethiopia (Rachwal and Destefano 1980; McGrew 1982; Hartman and Walker 1988). This zone is part of a larger regional exploration history starting in the 1940s. The Africa Resources Working Group (ARWG) has been investigating this history across thirteen countries covering seventy years and over three hundred companies, and has documented this in several forthcoming papers. With decades of exploration history in the zones, oil companies currently investing in this region generally already know what exists in the area, and where, and accelerate quickly to exploration drilling, which is a far more damaging phase than seismic exploration, and requires a greater amount of auxiliary support infrastructure, including security, where the company deems the area a potential risk to their property or employees. Given the growing tensions due to the Gibe III impacts, and the increasing conflict in South Sudan, private security forces are likely in use here, further heightening the potential for violent conflict in this region. 1This Appendix was written in July of 2014. Since that time, major expansions of Tullow Oil, Africa Oil and other petroleum and associated interests have been underway in the region. This discussion offers an outline and perspective regarding the genesis and basic character of the fast-moving development now underway. 2Joshua S. Dimon is completing a doctoral degree in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley— specializing in extractive industry development within Africa. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 217 C.J. Carr, River Basin Development and Human Rights in Eastern Africa — A Policy Crossroads, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-50469-8 218 Appendix A: Activation of Oil Exploration Currently, Africa Oil and Tullow are the two dominant companies involved in the region, although over 15 companies are involved in the tertiary rift valley all together. Tullow has been very active in the broader region, with oil discoveries in the Ugandan portion of the Western branch of the rift valley. Africa Oil is a more recent addition to the region, but includes individuals with many years of geologic experience in the region. Perhaps more problematic, Africa Oil gained its con- cessions along the Omo River in Ethiopia through an intermediary that initially gained the concessions as agricultural plantation project land. The inter-changing roles of the investors engaged both across industries, and across countries in the region demonstrates both the unified front facing the pastoral peoples of the Southern Omo, northern Lake Turkana region, and the strategic advantage these companies have in negotiations with regional governments. Given the evidence from the past seven decades of exploration, and current upsurges in interest in the broader northern Rift Valley Area and Horn of Africa, the oil companies are arguing this region is likely to become next West Africa. The convergence of this massive expansion of the oil industry in the same impact zone as that of the Gibe III dam will decimate livelihoods in this region. The impacts from all of these developments together far exceed the sum of the individual impacts, as livelihoods will already be stressed beyond their coping points by the Gibe III dam. Seismic exploration, while progressing for decades, has rapidly expanded in recent years. Additionally, two wells have already been drilled by Tullow Oil in the lower Omo area near the Ethiopia–Kenya border by Tullow Oil, and many more South of the Lake in Kenya where development drilling is already in progress. These developments will directly and severely impact pastoral livelihoods in the region. Seismic exploration requires the clearing of vast swaths of land from flora, fauna and people including for the placement of explosives or large “thumper trucks” every 100 m. This is carried out for distances of hundreds of kilometers in order to generate seismic waves. These operations involve security measures to prevent people from approaching the seismic lines during clearing, placing of trucks and explosives, and seismic testing itself which can extend for months. For pastoral peoples, these actions mean major disruption of settlements, livestock movements and access to grazing and water sources. Drilling involves the same securitization of the location of the drilling rigs. It also involves the production of a very large amount of drilling waste, including toxic drilling muds, drill cuttings (rock) contaminated with drilling muds and possibly hydrocarbons, and produced water (from injection during drilling) also contaminated with drilling muds and hydrocarbons. If the drilling is on land, in areas such as this region, the wastes will be left near the drill site in waste ponds, likely unlined, risking contamination of any groundwater that may be accessed in the region, as well as nearby land. If the drilling is on water, the wastes are generally dumped directly into the water system next to the drilling platform. This would be concern enough without the impacts on Lake Turkana water levels from the dam, as it can seriously impact benthic organisms, chemical oxygen demand, and fish life (Patin 1999; Satterly 2003). However, with any reduction in Lake level from the Dam itself, this would be far worse. Each of these phases of oil and gas development involve security, generally from either private security forces, or the military forces of the hosting country. In a region already experiencing the livelihood tensions noted in throughout this book, as well as the impending tensions from the impacts of the Dam itself, this increased militarization of the region will only augment armed conflict and humanitarian concerns. The exploration programs that have been progressing in the South Omo, North Turkana regions have already sparked conflict when residents of the region first encountered oil company trucks that said they had authorization from the government to commence work in the region, despite community members knowing nothing about it. Literature Cited Hartman, J.B., and T.L. Walker. 1988. Petroleum developments in Central and Southern Africa in 1987 (Part b). Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geographers 72(10b):196–227. Hedberg, H. 1953. Petroleum developments in Africa in 1952. McGrew, H.J. 1982. Petroleum developments in central and Southern Africa in 1981. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geographers 66(11):2251–2320. Appendix A: Activation of Oil Exploration 219 Fig. A.1 Concessions for oil and gas exploration in the Ethiopia–Kenya–South Sudan transboundary region—2014. Source Map by Africa Resources Working Group (ARWG), compiled from relevant oil industry documents/websites 220 Appendix A: Activation of Oil Exploration Fig. A.2 Cumulative concessions for oil and gas exploration in Eastern Africa. Source Mapping by J. Dimon, A. Gray and C. Carr of Africa Resources Working Group (ARWG) with data from relevant petroleum literature and oil industry websites Appendix A: Activation of Oil Exploration 221 Patin, S.A. 1999. Environmental impact of the offshore oil and gas industry. New York: Eco Monitor Publishing. Rachwal, C.A., and E.R. Destefano. 1980. Petroleum developments in central and Southern Africa in 1979. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geographers 64(11):1785–1835. Satterly, N. 2003. PCR inhibition and toxic effects by sediment samples exposed to drilling muds. Masters Thesis, submitted to Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. Appendix B: Species Collected in the Lower Omo River Basin and Transborder Region Collection by C. Carr (Taxonomic Update by F.H. Brown) Acanthaceae Barleria acanthoides Vahl Barleria eranthemoides R. Br. Barleria linearifolia Rendle Blepharis persica (Burm. f.) Kuntze (syn of B. ciliaris L.) B.L. Burtt Crossandra nilotica Oliv. Ecbolium anisacanthus (Schweinf.) C.B.Cl. Ecbolium revolutum (L.) C.B.Cl. Hypoestes verticillaris R. Br. Justicia anselliana T. Anders. Justicia caerulea Forssk. Justicia flava Forssk. Justicia odora (Forssk.) Vahl (syn.