Exploration interest in Kenya and its neighbors in eastern Africa has risen in recent years after hydrocarbon deposits were found in Uganda and natural gas in Tanzania and Mozambique.

Kenya itself is yet to strike any oil or gas despite sinking at least 32 exploratory oils since independence in 1963.

“We have signed heads of agreements with Total. We have negotiated and agreed. You cannot sign a license without a block being gazetted,” Martin Heya, commissioner of petroleum at the Ministry of Energy, said.

Publishing the blocks in the government gazette, which is issued weekly, makes it legal for them to be leased out for exploration.

Heya said after the blocks have been gazetted, the country will have 46 exporation blocks, with 28 licensed out to explorers, 17 open for licensing, and one under negotiation.

Total has a partnership with US oil firm Anadarko and Britain’s Cove Energy in Kenya, an indication that major oil firms are starting to see the potential for striking oil and gas in the region.

Heya said Apache had shown interest in some of the new offshore blocks, while Norway’s Statoil had expressed interest, but made no commitment.

In recent months there has been a flurry of exploration activity in the country, with several firms embarking on exploratory drilling and others conducting 2D and 3D seismic data acquisition and interpretation.

In late January, Canadian oil and gas company Africa Oil Corp. began drilling on its block 10BB in the Lokichar basin, part of the East African Rift System in the north of the country, as part of a multi-well program in the block and adjacent blocks.

Africa Oil has partnered with Tullow Oil to explore the block.

Australia’s Pancontinental Oil and Gas and its partners said mid last month it had completed 2D and 3D seismic surveys on its offshore blocks L10A and L10B and it is expected to analyze and map them later this year, ahead of exploratory drilling.

Given the lack of commercial oil and gas discoveries, the country did not intend to hold any licensing rounds, Heya said.

“We have realized, it requires money and we don’t know the outcome. We are still a frontier country. Once we discover oil, that is the way to go,” he said.