Liberty Petroleum Corporation has signed three production sharing agreements (PSAs) between the Federal Government of Somalia and Liberty’s affiliated company, Petro Quest Africa Corporation
The three contracts involving Blocks 131, 190 and 206 were signed in the presence of Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; Abdulkadir Aden Mohamud, CEO, Somali Petroleum Authority, and Lane Franks, CEO of Liberty.
With the prospective discoveries of commercial oil and gas from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique, the East African region has rose to prominence with the abundance of its reserves. Liberty has identified at least four potential source rock intervals which are expected to be present based on recent exploration results in East Africa. Offshore seismic surveys in 2012 has opened the doors to massive structural and stratigraphic trapping geometries, many of which were promising in terms of hydrocarbons availability. A US Government report indicates Somalia may have at least 30 bn barrels of oil and gas reserves.
Turkey recently signed a historic cooperation agreement with Somalia on 8 March 2024 with regards to the exploration and development of offshore oil and natural gas. The country has years of experience in offshore energy exploration since it discovered gas in 2020 in the Black Sea.
Each of the PSA’s has an initial five year term during which Liberty will evaluate existing seismic data with a view to high-grading areas to acquire 3D seismic surveys. Subject to the results of the 3D seismic there is scope to undertake drilling during the initial term of the work programme obligation and during the two renewal periods.
