Turkish President Erdogan Says Turkey Invited By Somalia To Explore For Oil

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reacts during a news conference in Ankara, Turkey January 13, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Middle East Eye: Turkey invited by Somalia to explore for oil, says Erdogan

The Turkish president's comments come amid growing efforts to develop oil exploration in the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Somalia had invited Turkey to conduct energy drilling and exploration operations in its seas.

“We had a proposal from Somalia. They said that Somalia had oil in its seas. [They said] as in Libya, [we] could do the same [drilling operations] in [Somalia],” Erdogan told journalists on the presidential plane returning from a summit in Berlin on Sunday, where world powers discussed the situation in Libya.

Erdogan said Ankara was intending to honour the invitation. “There would be steps that we will take there. This is something beneficial for us,” he said.

According to seismic data processing firm Seismic Geo, there is a high potential for hydrocarbon exploration off Somalia's shores. The country last week passed a new petroleum law to attract foreign investment in the energy sector from giant firms such as ExxonMobil and Shell.

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WNU Editor: Somalia, like Libya, is a war-zone. Good luck to Turkey if they think they can develop an oil field in such an environment.