Medeshi 25 Aug , 2008Somaliland oil ambitions make headway
Rashid Nur, AfricaNews reporter in Hargeysa, Somaliland
Norway-based Asante Oil executives began an official 5-day Somaliland visit last Wednesday after they flew into Hargeysa's Egal international airport and were met by the Director General of the ministry of water and minerals (MW & M), Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Sultan and other ministry officials.
Speaking to reporters in airport VIP lounge, Mr Sultan briefly explained that the Norwegian delegation have come to finalise a work program with the ministry and complete outstanding details in the oil exploration agreement which the Norwegians signed last May’08 with the ministry.
Asante Oil has been licensed by the ministry to explore and extract natural gas/oil resources in blocks SL13 and SL14.
The Norwegian delegation comprised of Mr. Jarand Rystad (delegation head), Mr. Christian Eidem, Mr. Tor B. Lund and Mr. Muhamad I.Hassan, head of Asante Oil office in Somaliland.
The head of the Norwegian delegation, Mr. Rystad explained to reporters on Thursday (21 Aug), in a joint press conference held with the MW & M at Maansoor Hotel in Hargeysa, that Asante Oil is on its final leg in preparations to start its drilling operations by 2009, once the acquisition of the seismic data taken by TGS-Nopec is finalised by end of 2008.Asante Oil executives gave a brief description of the company’s history, exploration plans, drilling program and highlighted costs already spent on their S/land acquisition amounting to millions of dollars.
The Norwegians said that their exploration agreement with the ministry did not involve any payments of signature bonus fees partly because this was covered by the company which part-funded the TGS-Nopec 2D seismic [offshore/onshore] survey
carried throughout S/land during 2007/8.
Furthermore, in place of bonus fees, Asante Oil has guaranteed to carry out a social development programmes in connection with the agreement in which Asante Oil will provide one water-borehole rig and it’s maintenance for the people living in SL13/14 regions and at same time provide vocational training in oil industry job related employment for locals.
The minister of Somaliland’s MW & M, Mr Qassim Sheekh Yusuf revealed during Thursday’s Maansoor Hotel joint-press conference that the ‘Production Sharing Contract’ agreement made with Asante Oil will go before the council of ministers and
the country’s parliament for final approval in the coming months.
The only other companies to have been licensed by the MW & M who own oil/gas exploration and extraction acreage in Somaliland are the Perth based Ophir Energy, a subsidiary of South Africa’s mighty conglomerate ‘Mvelaphanda Holdings’ and Britain's Prime Resources Ltd.
Along with Asante Oil, Ophir Energy and Prime Resources part-funded too last year’s TGS-Nopec’s 2D seismic survey carried out in Somaliland’s offshore/onshore. Both, companies are expected to begin drilling in 2009, according to MW & M.
Moreover, unconfirmed sources close to the ministry in Hargeysa disclosed that Ophir Energy, already, has recruited an Australian drilling ‘project manager’ who’d worked extensively in African oil exploration - to deliver its 2009 seismic and drilling program for its acreage in Somaliland. And said Ophir will probably begin its drilling operations 3-4 months ahead of Asante Oil and Prime Resources start their drilling operations in Somaliland next year.
The source, who asked not to be quoted, said Asante Oil, Ophir Energy and Prime Resources will definitely all be conducting their drilling programs by the coming year and much of this depends on how well and smooth the coming presidential elections in March 2009 turn out in Somaliland.
Asante Oil is made up of Mr. Christian Eidem, chairman and founder is the Norwegian professional footballer Christian Eidem who owns 11% of the equity, while another football personality, Kjetil Siem, is also an investor in it. Siem is a former sports journalist on Norwegian television who has now become an Internet businessman. He had managed the Norwegian club Valegenra until he moved to South Africa last year, taking up the post of CEO of the local Premier Soccer League (PSL) on a three year contract.
Jarand Rystad, is chairman of the board of the Oslo based investment fund Zoncolan SA, owns 17% of the Asante Oil capital. Another Asante Oil shareholder is its founder-shareholder Tor Lund, also a London based Norwegian and former head of Statoil Hydro’s Libyan activity and who has also worked in Angola and the Middle East. However, Asante’s leading shareholder, with 40% of the equity, is the fishing magnate Kjell Inge Rokke, the owner of the Aker conglomerate. Dyslexic and considered useless by his teachers when he was at school, Rokke went to make his fortune in the United States (Seattle) by trading in fish. He subsequently went back to Norway where he now owns a yacht and a private Boeing.[1]
Source : Africa News
Rashid Nur, AfricaNews reporter in Hargeysa, Somaliland
Norway-based Asante Oil executives began an official 5-day Somaliland visit last Wednesday after they flew into Hargeysa's Egal international airport and were met by the Director General of the ministry of water and minerals (MW & M), Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Sultan and other ministry officials.
Speaking to reporters in airport VIP lounge, Mr Sultan briefly explained that the Norwegian delegation have come to finalise a work program with the ministry and complete outstanding details in the oil exploration agreement which the Norwegians signed last May’08 with the ministry.
Asante Oil has been licensed by the ministry to explore and extract natural gas/oil resources in blocks SL13 and SL14.
The Norwegian delegation comprised of Mr. Jarand Rystad (delegation head), Mr. Christian Eidem, Mr. Tor B. Lund and Mr. Muhamad I.Hassan, head of Asante Oil office in Somaliland.
The head of the Norwegian delegation, Mr. Rystad explained to reporters on Thursday (21 Aug), in a joint press conference held with the MW & M at Maansoor Hotel in Hargeysa, that Asante Oil is on its final leg in preparations to start its drilling operations by 2009, once the acquisition of the seismic data taken by TGS-Nopec is finalised by end of 2008.Asante Oil executives gave a brief description of the company’s history, exploration plans, drilling program and highlighted costs already spent on their S/land acquisition amounting to millions of dollars.
The Norwegians said that their exploration agreement with the ministry did not involve any payments of signature bonus fees partly because this was covered by the company which part-funded the TGS-Nopec 2D seismic [offshore/onshore] survey
carried throughout S/land during 2007/8.
Furthermore, in place of bonus fees, Asante Oil has guaranteed to carry out a social development programmes in connection with the agreement in which Asante Oil will provide one water-borehole rig and it’s maintenance for the people living in SL13/14 regions and at same time provide vocational training in oil industry job related employment for locals.
The minister of Somaliland’s MW & M, Mr Qassim Sheekh Yusuf revealed during Thursday’s Maansoor Hotel joint-press conference that the ‘Production Sharing Contract’ agreement made with Asante Oil will go before the council of ministers and
the country’s parliament for final approval in the coming months.
The only other companies to have been licensed by the MW & M who own oil/gas exploration and extraction acreage in Somaliland are the Perth based Ophir Energy, a subsidiary of South Africa’s mighty conglomerate ‘Mvelaphanda Holdings’ and Britain's Prime Resources Ltd.
Along with Asante Oil, Ophir Energy and Prime Resources part-funded too last year’s TGS-Nopec’s 2D seismic survey carried out in Somaliland’s offshore/onshore. Both, companies are expected to begin drilling in 2009, according to MW & M.
Moreover, unconfirmed sources close to the ministry in Hargeysa disclosed that Ophir Energy, already, has recruited an Australian drilling ‘project manager’ who’d worked extensively in African oil exploration - to deliver its 2009 seismic and drilling program for its acreage in Somaliland. And said Ophir will probably begin its drilling operations 3-4 months ahead of Asante Oil and Prime Resources start their drilling operations in Somaliland next year.
The source, who asked not to be quoted, said Asante Oil, Ophir Energy and Prime Resources will definitely all be conducting their drilling programs by the coming year and much of this depends on how well and smooth the coming presidential elections in March 2009 turn out in Somaliland.
Asante Oil is made up of Mr. Christian Eidem, chairman and founder is the Norwegian professional footballer Christian Eidem who owns 11% of the equity, while another football personality, Kjetil Siem, is also an investor in it. Siem is a former sports journalist on Norwegian television who has now become an Internet businessman. He had managed the Norwegian club Valegenra until he moved to South Africa last year, taking up the post of CEO of the local Premier Soccer League (PSL) on a three year contract.
Jarand Rystad, is chairman of the board of the Oslo based investment fund Zoncolan SA, owns 17% of the Asante Oil capital. Another Asante Oil shareholder is its founder-shareholder Tor Lund, also a London based Norwegian and former head of Statoil Hydro’s Libyan activity and who has also worked in Angola and the Middle East. However, Asante’s leading shareholder, with 40% of the equity, is the fishing magnate Kjell Inge Rokke, the owner of the Aker conglomerate. Dyslexic and considered useless by his teachers when he was at school, Rokke went to make his fortune in the United States (Seattle) by trading in fish. He subsequently went back to Norway where he now owns a yacht and a private Boeing.[1]
Source : Africa News
