Kenya will next week host the ninth East African Petroleum Conference and exhibition to discuss investment opportunities to enhance socio-economic transformation, an official said on Friday.

Marin Heya, chairperson of the organizing committee, told journalists that over 1,000 local, regional and international delegates will be attending the three-day conference that will be in Mombasa from May 8.

“The conference will help attract investors on oil and gas into the region given the potential in the region,” Heya said in Nairobi.

He revealed that the Chinese geo-spatial and survey firm BGP and CNOOC are among the companies that are expected to attend the three-day conference.

The official said that the East African Community (EAC) member states, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, will also exhibit at the conference alongside international oil companies.

“We are also going to discuss a common legal and policy framework for countries in the region,” he added.

Heya noted that the conference is coming at a time when Kenya and Uganda have started drilling oil while Tanzania is exploring gas.

He revealed that Kenya is keen at marketing its oil blocks with the aim of attracting investors into the industry.

The Kenyan official said the conference is in line with the EAC Vision 2050 on the energy sector development that is aimed at ensuring sustainable, adequate, affordable, competitive, secure and reliable supply of energy to meet the regional needs at lower cost.

“By 2050, the region targets to transform the energy landscape to have efficient distribution of petroleum product with sufficient reserves,” Heya said.

The biennial conference has been going on since 2003 when the first conference was held in Kenya.