Map source: KeyFacts Energy

The ancient Land of Punt and later empires in the Horn of Africa traded with Mediterranean powers until Islam was introduced in the Middle Ages and Somali sultanates took over based in Zeila. Successive Imamates controlled large areas and fought numerous battles with Ethiopia. From 1884 the UK and Italy took control establishing British and Italian Somaliland (in the north and south respectively). A Dervish state rebelled in the 1910s but were finally defeated by the British in 1920. During World War 2 Italian fascists tried to overrun the north but were defeated in 1941.

After the war the UN granted Italy trusteeship of the south whilst the north remained a British protectorate. They united in 1960 to form the independent Somali Republic. A military coup in 1969, a war with Ethiopia in 1977, and an ailing economy all led to the Civil War in 1991 when Somalia became a failed state and, 2 areas, Somaliland and Puntland, declared independence (unrecognised). In 2004 a Transitional Federal Government was set up in the south to try to re-establish law but threats from Islamic groups, such as Al-Shabaab, continue. Somalia has an economy based on livestock and overseas worker remittances.

Source: GlobalShift

Country Key Facts

• Official name: Federal Republic of Somalia
• Capital: Mogadishu
• Population: 11,757,124 (2020)
• Area: 637,657 sq km
• Form of government: Federal Parliamentary Republic
• Language: Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English
• Religion: Sunni Muslim (Islam)
• Currency: Somali shilling (SOS)
• Calling code: +252

Geology

Most of Somalia has a Jurassic to Miocene sedimentary section that ranges from two to five km thick and is divided into seven unconformity-or transgression-bounded sequences.

Thicknesses of these sequences vary significantly within eight depositional basins. There are at least eight petroleum basins in Somalia that hold potential prospects ready for exploration and development. Some of these sedimentary basins have sediment thicknesses more than five kilometres and contain good source rocks, reservoir rocks, seals and traps necessary for oil and gas to deposit. 

Inland, the Jurassic to Tertiary section consists primarily of inter-bedded platform limestones and shales, locally with evaporites. This section is transitional eastward to deeper water shelf and basinal deposits along the coastal margin. Mesozoic rifts are present in northern Somalia. The early Cretaceous was a time of widespread emergence. Deltas related to major drainages developed in the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary; subsidence led to accumulation of a thick Tertiary section of deltaic and marginal marine deposits in southeastern Somalia.

The main structural elements resulted from rifting of Gondwanaland during Carboniferous to Jurassic, separation of Madagascar-India in early Late Jurassic, and opening of the Gulf of Aden in mid-Tertiary. In central and southern Somalia, warping and down-to-the-coast faulting is Late Cretaceous to mid-Tertiary in age. In the north, most deformation is related to Gulf of Aden rifting in which Africa separated from the Arabian Peninsula.

Mature, oil-prone source beds combined with potential reservoir rocks and structures occur in a variety of geological settings. Viable exploration plays include rift basins, regional arches, carbonate platform margins, deltaic complexes, and faulted basin margins.

Source: Abdulkadir Abiikar; London, UK

Shell/Exxon JV Agrees on an Initial Roadmap For Exploration and Development of Offshore Somalia

In March 2020, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of the Federal Republic of Somalia, agreed on an initial roadmap with the Shell/Exxon joint venture focused on the next steps towards the exploration and development of certain offshore hydrocarbon blocks.

This co-created roadmap will enable the conversion of prior agreed concessions into Production Sharing Agreements (“PSAs”) under the provisions of the Petroleum Law. This builds on the agreement signed in Amsterdam on 21 June 2019 which led to the receipt of USD$1.7 million from the Shell/Exxon joint venture from historical surface rentals and other incurred obligations on Offshore Blocks. In adherence to the Revenue Sharing Agreement, this payment was re-distributed among Somalia’s Member States for independent allocation. The processing and distribution of this sum among the member states demonstrate the strength of Somalia’s Revenue Sharing Agreement and provides a model for future treatment of funds arising from petroleum exploration and production.

The Ministry is committed to creating an attractive fiscal and regulatory environment for Independent and International Oil Companies to enter offshore Somalia. The revenues from any potential resource will be shared and invested for the benefit of all Somali people.

First License Round

Since the inauguration of the Federal Government of Somalia in 2012, the country has made significant steps to boost hydrocarbon exploration activity, including commissioning the acquisition of regional seismic data, the passing of a new petroleum law and launching its first offshore licensing round.

In preparation for the offshore licensing round, Spectrum has completed acquisition and processing of 20,185 km of 2D long-offset seismic data, following a co-operation agreement with the Federal Government of Somalia. This program complements 20,500 km of existing seismic data that was acquired in 2014.

7 blocks are on offer in Somalia’s 2020 offshore licensing round

The survey design, which covers water depths of 30 m to 4,000 m, has allowed for seismic coverage over the shelf, slope and basin floor with dip, strike and recording time intervals suitable for defining a range of leads and prospects. Streamer lengths of 10,050 m have been used to adequately record information at all offsets, further assisting imaging of the underlying syn–rift geometries. Modern processing algorithms were applied to the raw data to achieve optimal imaging of steeply-dipping extensional and compressional features and illumination of subtle amplitude anomalies.

The Ratification of Somalia’s Petroleum Law

On the 8th February 2020, His Excellency - President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, approved the country of Somalia’s Petroleum Law. The ratification of Somalia’s Petroleum Law represents a landmark moment for the future possibilities and development of the country’s oil and gas resources and indeed East Africa’s oil frontier. The law includes a revenue-sharing agreement, ensuring production revenues will be distributed among the Somali people through the Federal States, and provisions that Somalia’s oil and gas will belong to the Somali people. This will assure that present and future Somali generations benefit from the country’s vast hydrocarbon potential.

Incorporated within the law is the agreement to establish The Somali National Oil Company (SONOC), a government-controlled organisation that will be responsible for the country’s hydrocarbon production operations. The formation of the Somali Petroleum Authority has also been authorised, a regulatory body that will be responsible for overseeing all oil and gas exploration and production activity in the country.

Somalia’s 2020 Offshore Licensing Round

On 12th May 2020, The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of the Federal Government of Somalia announced the official launch of Somalia’s first offshore oil and gas licensing round. Despite the impact of COVID-19, the launch went ahead as the Ministry made the decision to go virtual. 

7 blocks are on offer in Somalia’s offshore licensing round, spanning the Obbia, Coriole and Juba-Lamu Basins. Analysis of subsurface data positions these blocks to be among the most prospective offshore areas for hydrocarbon E&P in Somalia. This licensing round will open on 4th of August 2020 and will be closing on 12th March 2021.

His Excellency Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, The Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources said,
“The opportunities for the international exploration and development majors are enormous. Somalia is committed to attracting investment and promoting partnership and business in all segments of the oil and gas industry value chain. This event is the starting point to allow the Somali Government to better showcase the vision that our country has for our petroleum and gas industry to potential foreign investors."

His Excellency Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, The Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources

Seismic Data Coverage Offshore Somalia

TGS currently offer the only seismic data that covers the 7 offshore blocks of the upcoming licensing round and have an exclusive agreement with the Somali government to market this data to interested parties. TGS’s 20,000 km long offset 2D seismic data set, acquired offshore Somalia in 2015, was used to better understand the presence and distribution of regional source rocks and their maturity in order to determine the region’s prospectivity. Although no well control exists to confirm the maturity or presence of these source rocks, models based on detailed interpretations of seismic character and attribute processing suggest the presence of regional source rocks, which fall within the oil window and are capable of charging giant nearby traps (also identified in seismic).

Early post-rift Late Jurassic candidate source rock identified, based on basin evolution history and expected seismic character. 
Source: geoexpro.com / TGS

Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources

The Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources was established with the aim of developing Somalia’s Energy sector for the benefit of its people. Somalia is a nation rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, and the Ministry works to maximise the opportunities for growth, investment, and prosperity that accompany the exploitation of these natural resources. Their commitment to transparency, as well as a sensitivity to the needs and desires of the Somali people, guide the work the Ministry does.

Central to their plan is the consolidation of an economic environment which welcomes investors and encourages all Somalis to participate in their expanding energy sector.

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
3rd floor GPO Building Corso
Bondhere Mogadishu
Somalia

Tel: +252 617795537 / +254 728979985   l   info@mopmr.gov.so

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