Somalia expects positive and encouraging results by the end of this year from the joint offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling operations it is conducting with Türkiye, Somali Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Dahir Shire Mohamed announced. The Minister added that his country is highly keen on expanding and deepening its cooperation with Ankara not only in the hydrocarbons sector but also across the mining industry.
Minister Mohamed, in a statement to the Anadolu News Agency, explained that Somalia and Türkiye have moved their energy partnership into a new and critical phase. This transition comes after the successful completion, analysis, and interpretation of seismic surveys off the Somali coast, paving the way for the commencement of deepwater drilling operations.
“The cooperation between Somalia and Türkiye on hydrocarbons is now entering the second phase, where we are doing the drilling,” Minister Dahir Shire Mohamed stated. He confirmed that the collection of seismic data has been fully completed, and the drilling of the first offshore deepwater well is currently underway at a rapid pace.
The Minister noted that this massive project reflects the firm commitment of both governments and mirrors the close, strong relationship between Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We are very positive that we will have some positive outcome towards the end of this year,” he added.
While declining to speculate or offer premature estimates regarding the exact size of the potential underground reserves, the Minister expressed absolute confidence that Somalia will see highly encouraging results once the drilling operations and technical evaluations are completed. He pointed out that any commercial discovery could play a historic role in Somalia’s overall economic growth and development by generating new job opportunities and attracting foreign investment.
According to Minister Mohamed, training and knowledge transfer are other key pillars of the agreement signed between the two nations. “As part of the memorandum of understanding, local expertise should be trained through on-the-job experience,” the Minister emphasized. “At the end of the day, Somalis should be able to do the work currently being done by [foreign] experts.”
Describing Türkiye as a “brotherly country,” Mohamed recalled how Türkiye stood firmly by Somalia during the severe humanitarian and famine crisis of 2011. He noted that ties between the two nations have expanded steadily over the past decade.
“Türkiye came to Somalia when the country was in dire need of assistance,” the Minister said in gratitude. “Since then, Türkiye has never left Somalia.” He explained that the bilateral relationship has successfully evolved from its initial focus on humanitarian support and security assistance to a strategic energy and mining partnership. “Somalia is known to have deposits of critical minerals and other important minerals. Therefore, we are also expecting agreements in mining,” he noted.
During a meeting in Istanbul with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Mohamed said the two sides discussed accelerating cooperation under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2016 regarding the mining sector. “We want to review that MoU and see where we can start,” he said. “At least [we want] to form a technical committee to review the data we have.”
Highlighting that Somalia holds extensive and vast mineral resources ranging from silica sand to uranium, the Minister stated that Türkiye’s technical expertise and experience could immensely help them map and develop these reserves. “Our country has plenty under the ground,” he said. “We want to extract and develop them in a peaceful, reasonable, and friendly way.”
Finally, the Minister indicated that energy cooperation between the two countries could significantly contribute to regional energy security. “When you look at the energy crisis in the world, it is very clear that no country can do energy security on its own,” he noted. “Depending on one single source is also challenging, so there should be diversified and different routes that can guarantee the energy security of a country.”
Since 2011, Türkiye and Somalia have significantly expanded their ties across defense, infrastructure, health, education, and trade. Energy cooperation has now emerged as one of the most strategic areas of this partnership.
Under the hydrocarbons exploration and production agreement between the two countries, Türkiye’s research vessel, Oruc Reis, carried out seismic surveys off the Somali coast that successfully identified promising offshore structures. Following this survey phase, deep-water drilling operations began in April at the Curad-1 well using Türkiye’s Cagri Bey drilling vessel. The drilling campaign is expected to continue for six to nine months, depending on weather and sea conditions.
This project marks a brand-new phase in Türkiye’s growing energy presence in the Horn of Africa, while both nations remain committed to expanding their cooperation into mining and onshore resource development in the future.
