Oil has been discovered in the Sallahey area of the Marodi-Jeh region, the self-declared republic of Somaliland has acknowledged, according to a statement from its ministry of energy and natural resources.
The ministry claimed that after a black liquid leaked from a nearby waterwell drilling site, it conducted scientific examinations, and the findings supported the detection of oil. This is the region’s first verified oil discovery.
The statement also mentioned that Genel Energy, a UK company, would begin more oil exploration and production.
The finding comes two weeks after the federal government of Somalia warned Genel Energy against conducting oil drilling in Somaliland without Mogadishu‘s permission, claiming the company was compromising the country’s sovereignty.
Somaliland, which separated from the southern region in 1991 and has since unsuccessfully sought international recognition, deemed the Mogadishu proclamation to be useless.
Since 1991, there has been a conflict between Somalia and Somaliland. The last time there were armed skirmishes over the issue was in 2018. Since then, things have generally been calm.
However, due to involvement from the UK, there were recent violent conflicts in Somaliland that resulted in the deaths of 20 individuals. Following Somalia’s criticism of the UK’s “illegal claim” to the rights to oil exploration and exploitation in Somaliland, this occurred.
