Ethiopia has entered in to agreements with eight international companies which are going to explore for deposits of oil and gas in the country.
Ethiopia had signed 11 agreements for sharing profit from petroleum and one joint survey agreement with the eight companies, Ministry of Mines said yesterday.
This follows a study by the ministry that showed that the country had a huge potential for oil and gas production.The study shows that after natural gas deposits were discovered in Hilala and Kalub in the eastern part of the country, other deposits of natural gas were found near Genale.
Ethiopia's gas and oil potential has attracted a number of foreign exploration companies.
Currently, Tullow Oil, Falcon Petroleum, South West Energy, Calvalley Petroleum Inc, Pexco Exploration, Africa Oil Corporation, Afar Exploration Company and Epsilon Energy Ltd are engaged in exploration in Ethiopia.
The country’s mining sector has recently been attracting foreign mining companies and the country has planned to boost earnings from mining exports to one billion dollars over the coming five years.Currently, Ethiopia is earning about 450 million dollars.
Source: The Africa Report
