Ethiopia receives natural gas reserves certificate
The Ministry of Mines received the first gas reserves certificate after the completion of a five month study, which verified the extent of oil and natural gas reserves in Ethiopia and how it’s going to be extracted.
Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc (NSAI) spent five months to conduct the regional geology and mining data. Other detail activities were conducted before.
The survey document conducted by NSAI unveiled on Friday at the headquarters of Ministry revealed presence of seven trillion cubic feet in Ogaden Basin in Somali region.
The certificate was handed over to Takele Uma, Minister of Mines by Joseph M. Wolfe, Vice President and Team Leader of the American company Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc (NSAI), USA based petroleum property analysis and consulting firm with offices in Dallas and Houston, Texas, which conducted the study.
During the “Oil and Gas Reserves Certification Ceremony” Takele Uma, Minister of Mines said that, “The certificate is an assurance to negotiate with any credible companies to bring them here to invest in our natural resource and transform our nation.”
He stressed that, “This time is the exact time we look for best experts, capacity development, technology, finance and partnership,” he added.
Minister Takele further said that in the past, it was only known that oil and natural gas reserves existed in Ethiopia, but not the amount.
Joseph M. Wolfe on his part said that, “Making analysis based on the data provided to incorporate into economic assumptions, development plans and infrastructure planning into this evaluation was our scope.”
The survey report will be used for for international public offerings (IPOs) for securing financing—finance for looking for investors, acquisitions and developments, he said.
He added that the certificate will also be the potential for Ethiopia to provide for its own domestic needs of natural gas and for oil in the future.
