(AFP) ADDIS ABABA – The Woyanne regime of Ethiopia has signed an oil exploration deal with the British firm White Nile for a 29,500 square kilometre block in the south of the country, the government announced.
“The Ministry of Mines and Energy has signed here on Tuesday an agreement with White Nile Limited, an England-based Petroleum Company that would enable (it to) later explore and develop petroleum in South Ethiopia Peoples’ State,” a statement said.
“The Southern Ethiopian rift basins in the Omo and Chew Bahir areas were considered to be some of the petroleum potential areas in Ethiopia,” the statement added.
In recent years, Ethiopia has signed 12 different exploration deals with foreign companies for blocks along the border with Sudan, in the troubled southern Ogaden region and in the northern Nile Basin region.
White Nile, which was founded by former cricketer Phil Edmonds and also operates in northern Kenya and southern Sudan, confirmed that a production sharing agreement was signed with Ethiopia.
“The agreement in Ethiopia is part of White Nile’s strategy of building a regional oil company, which I believe we have the ability to achieve,” he said in a statement.
“The geology seems to connect Uganda, Ethiopia and southern Sudan so our land positions are in ideal locations to take advantage of this situation,” he added.