Completion Of 2D Seismic Acquisition Programme - Somalia

Soma Oil & Gas Exploration Limited, the Somalia focused oil and gas exploration company, announced the completion of its offshore seismic acquisition programme which commenced in February 2014.

The seismic acquisition programme was carried out by SeaBird Exploration (“SeaBird”) and concluded in June 2014 with over 20,500 km lines of 2D seismic data having been acquired across a 122,000 sq km offshore evaluation area.  The processing of the seismic data is expected to take until late 2014 to complete. 

Soma Oil & Gas will provide the processed seismic data to the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Federal Government of Somalia (“the Ministry”) for use by the Ministry and storage in the Ministry’s data room in Mogadishu.

Under the terms of the Seismic Option Agreement signed by the Ministry and the Company, Soma Oil & Gas has the right to apply for Production Sharing Agreements for an area of up to 60,000 sq km.

Robert Sheppard, CEO of Soma Oil & Gas, said, "The completion of the 2D seismic acquisition programme is a significant milestone for both Soma Oil & Gas and the Federal Government of Somalia. 

 The quantity and quality of seismic data acquired is at the top end of our expectations and importantly we have managed to complete the seismic acquisition programme with no security or HSE incidents. 

Our efforts are now focused on the processing, reprocessing and interpretation of the seismic data in order to identify leads and prospects by the end of 2014.  At that point, Soma Oil & Gas will be ready to apply for PSAs in the areas of most interest to the Company.

Somalia remains a significantly under-explored region despite large recent discoveries elsewhere in East Africa & Madagascar and we are continuing to assist the Federal Government of Somalia in accelerating the development of its oil and gas potential.”

H.E. Daud Mohamed Omar, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, said, "This significant milestone not only demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to re-opening Somalia’s oil and gas industry which will see economic and social developments for the country and the people of Somalia, but further confirms that the historic security risks associated with Somalia are continuing to diminish. The Federal Government is looking forward to further developing the hydrocarbons industry and engaging with international oil companies to conduct exploration work in Somalia.”