By HASSAN YUUSUFWAAL Many studies point out that Somalia has oil and gas reserves in both onshore and offshore worth extracting. At a conservative estimate, offshore deposits could stand at over 100 billion barrels. Agip (now known as Eni) and Sinclair Oil Corporation started the oil exploration in Somalia in 1950s. From then on a number of major oil companies were given licences to further explore. These efforts were disrupted as Somalia plunged into civil war in 1991. However, the recent oil discoveries in Mozambique and Tanzania and a new seismic data collected from offshore Somalia by the seismic services company Spectrum has brought an influx of oil companies into Somalia. Companies lured into these new developments include Shell and ExxonMobil who held exploration concessions before the collapse of Siad Barre’s regime in 1991. They declared force majeure ( when contractual obligations are not met due to disruptive events ) after the country descend...
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