The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines is in the process of facilitating visas for the Tullow drilling crew that will oversee the launch of 
drilling processes by the company in January. The crew is expected to be composed of 20 primarily Polish experts.
Tullow is preparing to launch drilling activity on its concession in the Southern Omo Valley according to its tentative program said Sinkensh Ejigu, State Minister for Mines.
The schedule set for drilling may be changed if the visa processes prove to take longer than expected she said.
Tullow is also in the process of clearing the drilling machinery that it has imported for the purposes of its project with customs. The machines arrived in Port Djibouti 2 weeks ago according to sources.The ministry is facilitating the custom clearance for the machines to support the company’s effort according to Sinkenesh.
It is to be remembered that the Full Tensor Gradiamametric Gravity Survey use to establish the geographical characteristics of the concession area was conducted by the Chinese company BGP Geo Service plc.
The process leading up to drilling is very complicated and with a range of components making it difficult to predict the outcome although Tullow officials have already informed the Ethiopian government of the presence of considerable oil reserves in the area according to a geological expert with the ministry.
Source: Addis Fortune
