The Ministry of Mines of Ethiopia today inked a deal with Netherlands and U.S. companies to develop the natural gas and crude oil resources of the country.
Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI) of the United States and the Netherlands have signed the deal with the Ministry in charge of regulating the natural resources of the country mainly minerals, oil and gas.
The deal is signed by Eng. Takele Uma, Minister of Mines of Ethiopia and representatives of the two companies, which jointly conduct in depth study on the volume of the natural resources and economic feasibility.
As initial document, the companies will be using existing exploration studies conducted on 3,500 square kilometers of land in Somali region of Ethiopia.
Reports show that the presence of oil and gas in Ethiopia’s eastern part was found several decades ago by the United States company used to be known as Standard Oil.
It is recalled that a few years ago, a Chinese company Poly GCL registered in the tax haven Verging Island was granted a license from the Government of Ethiopia to commence production of gas in Ogaden area in Somali region.
ጥናቱ የነዳጅና ተፈጥሮ ጋዝ ሀብታችን ለማዳበሪያና ኢነርጂ ኢንቨስትመንቶች ጥቅም ላይ እንዲውል የሚረዳና ለአለም አቀፍ የኢንቨስትመንት ተቋማትም ስለ ነዳጅና ተፈጥሮ ጋዝ ሀብታችን መጠንና አይነት ማረጋገጫን ለማግኘት የሚረዳ ይሆናል፡፡ pic.twitter.com/N31P2WApda
— Takele Uma Banti (@TakeleUma) March 22, 2022
It is not yet clear if the new deal with the U.S. and Netherlands companies include the areas on which the Chinese company was producing gas before it quits after a few months.
