Oil companies are renowned for going into hostile environments in their relentless search for the world’s seemingly insatiable thirst for “black gold.”
That said, there remain a few nations where even the intrepid masters of the universe hesitate to tread.
In Central Asia, it is Afghanistan, despite the nation’s purported 1.6 billion barrels of extractable crude.
In Africa, it is Somalia, poster child for failed nation states since President Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. Over the past two decades, the wretched country has only known civil war, chaos and famine.
But, no matter, never mind al Shabaab. During the 7 October Somalia Oil and Gas Summit in London, Somali Minister of Finance and Planning Mohamud Hassan Suleiman encouraged foreign investors to "seize the opportunity" to invest in Somalia’s flat-lined energy sector. Suleiman told a wary audience, "The discovery of oil and gas in Somalia opens up an array of hope and opportunities for the new Somalia, enabling it to influence the pace of economic recovery and the future stability of the country. International investors and multi-national corporations are turning their attention to Somalia and we must now seize the opportunity and work with them.”
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