Turkey and Somalia have signed an agreement under which the Turkish state company TPAO will conduct seismic surveys on three blocks in Somalia, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced.
"We believe that Somalia has very important oil and natural gas resources in the offshore area. We have signed our agreement in 3 blocks in the Somali offshore area.[…] In these blocks, Turkey will have the authority to exclusively explore and hopefully produce oil when we find it," Bayraktar said during the press conference.
He also noted that the area of each block is 5,000 kilometers, with two blocks located 50 kilometers offshore and the third block 100 kilometers offshore.
"We are sending our Oruc Reis ship to the region, hopefully around the end of September or the beginning of October. It will carry out a very significant seismic study there for months. As a result of this work, hopefully this work will result in drilling and hopefully a discovery after drilling, and it will indeed be a very essential and historical step for both Somalia and our country," the minister added.
Turkey and Somalia inked a defense and economic cooperation pact earlier this year during the Somali defense minister's visit to Ankara.