A convoy carrying Africa Oil executives and Puntland Administration officials was attacked by 15-20 gunmen in Laba-rugoodle close to Ufeyn district of Bari Region in Puntland, according to local residents.
The gunmen are believed to be residents of the Ufeyn district who are upset about oil exploitation by foreign companies, including Canada's Africa Oil. Their main motives are allegedly to defend the local natural resources and to get a commitment from the Puntland government for rural and urban development of the area.
Puntland officials in Bosaso confirmed the attack, but said they are dealing with the situation cautiously and refused further comments. No injuries were reported.
Bosaso Mayor Mohamud Farah Beeldaaje who hails from Ufeyn said that most residents are pleased with the oil exploitation, but told Somalia Report that some “miscreants may exist."
Other local resident in Ufeyn said they are angry about lack of consultations on their natural resources and accused the government of creating the conflict.
"We want to be informed and consulted because it is our land," resident Mohamud Suugo told Somalia Report.
The mayor of Ufayn, Mohamud Aw Muse, the commander of the district police, Col Salaad Dheere, and the vice district police commander, Mohamed Yusuf, were arrested in Bosaso for allegedly helping the gunmen.
Somalia Report attempted to contact Africa Oil by email and telephone, but was unable to reach anybody for comment.
Oil is there, but getting at it problem
According to Africa Oil's website, the company holds two blocks in Puntland, Somalia: the Nugaal Block and the Dharoor Block.
Africa Oil is working with its partners in the Puntland deal, Red Emperor and Range Resources, and has a plan "to drill a prospect of 300 million barrels of recoverable oil in the third quarter of 2011," according to a Reuters article last month.
The company says the two basins are expected to deliver similar yields to the Marib-Shabwa and Sayun-asila Basins in Yemen, as they were contiguous before the Gulf of Aden opened up. Oil production in Yemen, which comes largely from the two basins, has declined to around 260,000 barrels per day since it began production in the mid-1980s, making it a small oil producer. Africa’s largest producers Nigeria, Tunisia and Angola pump around or over two million barrels per day.
Africa Oil, in its company profile, also laid out the problems it had faced and would face in actually extracting the oil – including issues over security, rights and border disputes:
As a result of ongoing political disputes, the legal international boundaries between Somalia (which includes Puntland, a semi-autonomous region within Somalia) and its neighboring countries are in dispute. In September 2007, the Company was advised that the Ministry of Water and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Somaliland was claiming ownership of the Nugaal and AhlMedo Valley basins, including some or all of the area that comprises the blocks in which the Company has the right to acquire an 80 percent interest, granted by the Government of Puntland. The Republic of Somaliland and Somalia have disputed their respective borders since May 1991 when the Republic of Somaliland was established. The Company disputes the claims of the Republic of Somaliland, however, the outcome of this dispute cannot be predicted with any certainty.
Africa Oil is highly exposed to significant political risk in Puntland (Somalia). The political climate in Somalia is characterized by strong internal political tension, turmoil and factional fighting. The political tensions sometimes escalate into violence or the threat of violence.
Through much of 2008 and 2009 Somalia experienced heightened instability. The Transitional Federal Government (“TFG”), which was the primary ruling party in Somalia, was dissolved in favor of a coalition government which includes representation of both the TFG and the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia(“ARS”). On January 31, 2009, Somalia elected its new President who has vowed to unify all factions of Somalia and bring peace to neighboring countries.
The Company continues to work and cooperate with government leaders in Somalia, however, there can be no certainty as to if, or when, the current political instability will be resolve
In Puntland (Somalia), the Dharoor and Nugaal Valley Production Sharing Agreements that Africa Oil has entered into are contractual agreements between the Company and the Government of Puntland. Puntland is an autonomous region in northeastern Somalia, centered around Garowe, which in 1998 declared itself to be an independent republic of Somalia. Puntland is considered to be part of Somalia, participates in the process for the restoration of the Somalia State institutions and is recognized by the TFG.
The Production Sharing Agreements were acknowledged by the TFG, who agreed that they would be upheld within any national framework of mining and petroleum legislation enacted as part of the Somali Unification Process which the TFG is involved in. In November 2007, Africa Oil was advised that ConocoPhillips, which entity had previously engaged in oil and gas exploration in the Nugaal and Dharoor Valleys, was claiming a continued interest in certain of the concessions that comprise the blocks in which the Company has acquired an interest. ConocoPhillips stated that its interests have not been terminated by the Somali Democratic Republic and have not been relinquished by ConocoPhillips
The Company disputes ConocoPhillips’s position in respect of this matter. However, if ConocoPhillips chooses to pursue its claims, the outcome of a dispute or lawsuit cannot be predicted with any certainty.
And this my friends is exactly what happens when you indulge yourselves in illegal activity
Viva Somalia. Down with criminals.
