GEESKA AFRIKA ONLINE: Somalia: The Africa's next Angola »
Africa’s next Angola oil fields will be in Somalia’s Oil and Gas in Indian Ocean Exploration. British oil giant British Petroleum signed concessions with the Petrolatum Department for the Federal Government of Somalia to explore oil and gas in the war raven East African nation, including International waters of Indian Ocean and Red Seas of Somaliland and Puntland Zones.
Canadian oil and gas exploration firm, Africa Oil announced two additional oil discoveries in northern Somali Kenyan zones as search for commercial oil intensifies in the East African nation. The company said that Amosing-1 and Ewoi-1 exploration wells in Block 10BB, onshore northern Kenya, have resulted in the discovery of two new large oil fields.
“These two wells continue the 100 percent success rate in the South Lokichar Basin with seven out of seven discoveries to date,” it said in a statement released in Nairobi.
Another offshore well in Kenyan waters has been declared a failure, according to Intelligence sources. Although oil was found, the rock was too dense to allow production to continue under Malaysia’s giant state-owned oil company Petronas and other firms. Kenya, still considered a “frontier exploration” field, by its lack of proven oil deposits except the Turkana find, has witnessed a series oil-based transactions.
The well drilled showed “the existence of an active oil system,” but the “rocks are very compacted and don’t have the capacity to deliver significant quantities of oil and gas,” meaning it “cannot be qualified as a commercial discovery,” according to the Granma newspaper. (Picture, the Ngamia rig site in northern Kenya)
But, intelligence reports existence of significantly large oil deposits in Somalia which could change global prices if tapped 2015. The Somali shores of Indian Ocean could be having some of the world’s largest oil deposits. Experts geographical assessments point out billions of oil barrels are reserved untapped in Somalia.
Intelligence collected by Strategic Intelligence shows Somaliland, Puntland and Central Somalia province has billions barrels of oil reserves, making one of the top 20 countries holding oil fields.
A company that drilled wells in Puntland region estimates 4bn barrels (about $500bn worth at today’s prices) in its two discoveries in Somalia; while Somaliland has 5bn barrels.
If drilled, Somali oil would flood the market beating countries like Nigeria and Kuwait to make Somalia the 7th largest oil producer in the world; according to the Intelligence reports.
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