Somaliland: oil first, recognition later

Somaliland oil,

It’s not a country recognised by anyone other than its own government, but that doesn’t seem to phase three oil companies scaling up exploration in Somaliland.

UK-listed Genel Energy and Ophir Energy, and Australia-listed Jacka Resources, are starting to explore for oil in earnest in the breakaway state, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991.

“We are embarking on the largest and most significant exploration this country has seen since it became independent 21 years ago,” oil minister Hussein Abdi Dualeh told beyondbrics from an oil conference in South Africa, hopeful the first drilling will start in 2014 following seismic surveys this year. “They are starting in a major way – it’s going to be a massive year.” read more