American Company to Assess, Estimate and Certify Ogaden Oil, Gas Reserves

Addis Ababa March 22/2022 /ENA/ Ethiopian Ministry of Mines today signed with Netherland, Swell & Associates, Inc (NSAI) for the consultancy and assessment of the oil and gas reserve in the Ogaden basin of Somali region.

Minister of Mines, Takele Umma and NSAI Vice President, Joseph M. Wolfe signed the agreement.

NSAI is an American-based internationally known independent reserve consultant popular in the oil and gas sector, especially on petroleum property analysis for industry and financial organizations and government agencies.

It delivers high-quality, fully integrated engineering, operational, geological, geophysical, petrophysical, and economic solutions for all facets of the upstream energy industry.

According to the agreement, the company will conduct a survey on the available resources of natural gas and its economic feasibility by analyzing the wealth of data that Ethiopia has collected over the years from various companies in the Ogaden area of Somali Regional State.

As per the deal, the company will provide a consultancy service on oil and gas reserves of more than 3,500 square kilometers area of the Ogaden basin and also come up with an economic evaluation of the reserve.

The findings will help the nation to come up with its own plan to develop the available oil and gas resources, it was indicated.

NSAI Vice President, Joseph M. Wolfe said during the signing ceremony that "Ethiopia already has a wealth of data concerning petroleum resources in the Ogaden basin, including seismic data. We will use those data for the resource estimation." 

The reserve estimation and economic evaluation activities will be undertaken over the next four months, he said. "At the end of the period we will provide data useful for various purposes," he added.

Minister of Mines & Petroleum, Takele Uma on his part, said the purpose of the agreement with NSAI is to gain full knowledge and understanding of oil and gas reserves in the area.

According to Takele, the government wants to develop the resources for energy and fertilizer production.

United States Chargé d’Affaires in Ethiopia, Ambassador Tracey Jacobson has witnessed the signing ceremony.

She said that she is happy to witness another example of the growth of the economic relationship between the US and Ethiopia.