Turkey is reported to have discovered more than 20 billion barrels of oil reserves in Somalia. This is a new source of wealth for the currently troubled country.
And the discovery is reported from two of the three oil exploration blocks operated by Turkey in Somalia.
These, as far as information from Mogadishu is concerned, have yielded commercially viable reserves, with each estimated to contain up to 10 billion barrels of tradable crude.
Preliminary drilling and geological assessments in the completed blocks have concluded successfully, marking a significant breakthrough in Ankara’s deepening energy ambitions in the East African region.
On the other hand, the third potential block remains under active exploration, with results expected anytime from August 2025.
As for the quality and grade of the oil discovered in that block will be determined after serious laboratory testing and analysis that will be conducted in Turkey.
The discovery comes just days after reports surfaced that Somalia had granted Turkey a highly favorable profit-sharing agreement, giving Ankara a 90 percent stake in revenues from offshore oil production.
The arrangement, which has not been officially published, has drawn sharp criticism from some of the country’s political leaders, who warned that such an imbalance could amount to the exploitation of Somalia’s natural resources.
According to the Somali Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Dahir Shire Mohamed, the country’s new hydrocarbon partnership with Türkiye should be hailed as a “timely boost” to unlock its vast but underdeveloped natural resources.
Somalia, a country with the longest coastline on the continent recently became a member of the East African community, a regional block which is being pivoted in the Arusha City of Tanzania.