Addis Ababa, March 22, 2022 / ENA / The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines signed today with Netherland, Swell & Associates, Inc (NSAI) for the consultation and evaluation of the oil and gas reserve in the basin of the Ogaden of the Somali region.

Mines Minister Takele Umma and NSAI Vice President Joseph M. Wolfe signed the agreement.

NSAI is an internationally recognized, independent, American reserves consultant popular in the oil and gas industry, particularly for the analysis of petroleum properties for industry, financial organizations and government agencies.

It provides high quality, fully integrated engineering, operational, geological, geophysical, petrophysical and economic solutions for all facets of the upstream energy industry.

Under the agreement, the company will conduct a survey of available natural gas resources and its economic feasibility by analyzing the wealth of data that Ethiopia has collected over the years from various companies in the Ogaden region of the country. regional state of Somalia.

Under the agreement, the company will provide an advisory service on the oil and gas reserves of more than 3,500 square kilometers in the Ogaden Basin and will also offer an economic valuation of the reserve.

The results will help the nation develop its own plan to develop available oil and gas resources, it said.

NSAI Vice Chairman Joseph M. Wolfe said at the signing ceremony that “Ethiopia already has a wealth of data regarding the petroleum resources of the Ogaden Basin, including seismic data . We will use this data for the resource estimate.

Reserve estimation and economic evaluation activities will be undertaken over the next four months, he said. “At the end of the period, we will provide useful data for various purposes,” he added.

Mines and Petroleum Minister Takele Uma on his part said the objective of the agreement with NSAI is to gain full knowledge and understanding of the oil and gas reserves in the region.

According to Takele, the government wants to develop resources for energy and fertilizer production.

The United States Chargé d’Affaires in Ethiopia, Ambassador Tracey Jacobson, attended the signing ceremony.

She said she was happy to witness another example of the growing economic relationship between the United States and Ethiopia.