A new era has begun in the exploration of natural gas and oil at sea with the sending off of the Oruç Reis seismic research vessel to Somalia from the Bosporus, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Saturday, as Somali authorities hailed Ankara’s support in energy development.
The minister, along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attended the ceremony to see off the vessel as it embarked on its latest energy research mission bound for the waters off Somalia.
“Today we all witnessed a historic moment for our country,” Bayraktar said in a post on X.
“We sent off our Oruç Reis seismic research vessel from the Bosporus to Somalia with our president. We started a new era in natural gas and oil exploration at sea,” he noted.
“With the experience we have gained and our strong infrastructure, we are now in the international arena. We are taking firm steps toward becoming fully independent in energy by increasing our resource diversity,” he added.
The ship will do seismic surveys in Somali waters under an agreement signed in March between Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and Somalia’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry.
The vessel is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Somalia later this month to do seismic surveys for oil and natural gas in three areas where Türkiye has secured exploration licenses, said a ministry statement.
Launched in 2017, the Oruç Reis was entirely designed and constructed in Türkiye, showcasing the expertise and collaboration of Turkish engineers, technicians and workers through every stage of development, from design to production.
‘Historic milestone’
Somalia, rich in untapped energy potential, “regards this occasion as a historic milestone, with deep appreciation to Türkiye for its steadfast support,” Somalia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It further said that the initiative is set to propel Somalia toward greater economic development and a stronger energy sector.
Abdirizak Mohamed, Somalia’s petroleum and mineral resources minister, hailed the voyage, writing on X: “Today is a monumental day for Türkiye & Somalia as Oruc Reis seismic research ship embarked from Istanbul to Mogadishu to conduct 3D seismic offshore Somalia.”
Early this year Türkiye and Somalia signed memorandums of understanding under which Turkish Petroleum, Türkiye’s national oil company, obtained licenses for three offshore areas in Somali waters.
Türkiye plans to do seismic surveys across the three licensed zones, each covering roughly 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 square miles).
The mission, expected to last some seven months, will involve collecting seismic data for both oil and natural gas, the ministry said earlier in the statement. This data will be analyzed in the Turkish capital Ankara to identify potential drilling sites.
Somalia’s Ambassador to Türkiye Fathudin Ospite and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also attended the grand farewell ceremony for Oruç Reis in Istanbul.
Türkiye, a long-time close ally of Somalia, has also invested in its education, infrastructure, and health sectors, as well as provided extensive humanitarian aid.
Cooperation with Sao Tome and Principe
Separately on Saturday, Türkiye also signed agreements on security and law enforcement training and energy cooperation with the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa.
Bayraktar and Jose Do Nascimento Carvalho De Rio, Sao Tome’s natural resources minister, signed a memorandum of understanding, with the aim of developing energy cooperation between the countries, the minister said in the post.
“Within the scope of the memorandum of understanding, we aim to develop cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and the electricity sector, as well as offshore oil and natural gas exploration activities,” he stated on X.
