Norwegian oil flows for new elections in Somaliland

[Deeq A.]

 

Former BP director Tony Hayward is chairman of Genel Oil Company on Oslo Stock Exchange, which is involved in Somaliland. Photo: Sean Gardner (Reuters)

 

Possible billion values ​​have tempted Kjell Inge Røkke and a series of Norwegian investors to Somaliland.

Today, the election results in Somaliland – a breakaway province in Somalia, with 3.5 million inhabitants and possible giant reserves of oil and gas offshore.

Central to the race is what remains of a series of Norwegian investors – among them Kjell Inge Røkke. But the oil spill on the Horn of Africa also has threads to Oslo Børs.

DNB and Pareto
The main interest is in Genel Energy Finance plc, an oil company with bonds worth NOK 3.5 billion listed on Oslo Børs . The loan was issued by DNB and Pareto , and Genel is in both the Kurdish region of Iraq and Somaliland.

UNIQUE AREA: Somaliland is a victorian province, surrounded by armed conflicts.

Google Maps

Genel’s chairman is former BP director Tony Hayward – who was fired in the oil company after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which cost 11 people’s lives and caused the biggest oil spill in history.

Now Genel has investigated 2,000 kilometers of seismic in two fields, where the company owns 50 and 75 percent, respectively, and is an operator. The results are so promising that Genel has picked out more areas to be investigated closer to the end of 2017 and into next year.

Genel has 24 employees in Somaliland.

NORWAY INTERESTS: Genel is in blocks SL 6, 9 and 10. DNO is in block 18, while now Asante Oil has block 13 and 14.

Huge oil currents
Geological findings indicate that Somaliland can have huge oil resources, and Genel says straightforwardly that they are looking for over two billion barrels of oil in their blocks.

TREKKER SEG: Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud steps down as president of Somaliland. The result of the election of the descendant is expected Friday.

Wikipedia

The risk is high – both because there is no oil, but also because the excruder is not internationally approved as an independent state, and uncertainty about what is happening now that President Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo retires after seven years.

It’s only a month since Somalia experienced the country’s worst terrorist attack, when more than 300 people were killed in a truck bomb in the capital Mogadishu.

Somaliland declared independence in 1991, but no country has recognized the province as an independent country. It is unclear whether the election that is being implemented these days will change.

Norwegian investors in line
A number of Norwegian investors have been in Somaliland.

The oil company DNO entered the country in 2013 , and the seismic company TGS has been working to shoot seismic and investigate possible instances for over 10 years under an exclusive license with Somaliland’s Department of Water and Mineral Resources.

The oil company Ansan Wikfs , where Norwegian Colin Kramer in Dubai is Technical Director, has bought rights to some blocks for around 15 million. Kramer worked previously for DNO in Yemen .

Røkke i trøbbel
The most famous Norwegian investor on oil hunting in Somaliland is nevertheless Kjell Inge Røkke. Through Aker Capital he entered more than 50 percent in the oil company Asante – among other things, with another well-known financier, Riulf Rustad, and oil expert Jarand Rystad.

Asante Oil eventually fell together, partly because Kjell Inge Røkke threw the cards.

It caused irritation – and merit – when local media in Somaliland searched the internet and linked Røkke to the so-called boat certificate case, where Røkke was sentenced and imprisoned for lubricating a public official.

Lost 30 million
Asante Oil brought in 30 million kroner and carried out a seismic survey. The company burned 28 of the millions already in its first operating year.

“It does not look like the company,” Riulf Rustad told Dagens Næringsliv when he left.

“For our part, this is a closed chapter,” said Aker Executive Vice President Geir Arne Drangseid.

But now new investors are on the go.