Somalia’s nullified oil exploration deal fuels heat in Mogadishu and Nairobi
Protesters stage a demonstration demanding a solution to the maritime boundary row between Somalia and Kenya in 2017. Officials have annulled an exploration deal given to US firm, Coastline. PHOTO | AFP
Somalia’s controversial oil deal with a US oil firm last week is raising suspicions in Nairobi amid an unresolved maritime border dispute between the two countries.
On February 19, Somalia’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Abdirashid Ahmed announced the signing of seven production-sharing agreements (PSAs) with Coastline Exploration, a US company co-founded by a Russian oligarch and based in Houston, Texas, which says it is “focused on the East African oil scene,” to proceed with plans to explore the oil and gas potential of the many prospects and leads identified in its offshore blocks.
