Minerals Minister Never Been To Houston
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 13, 2006 – On the occasion of his return to Hargeysa from a long trip abroad, the Somaliland minister of Minerals and Water, Qasim Sheikh Yusuf, told reporters on May 2, 2006 that he visited the United States, Britain and Norway to promote oil exploration in Somaliland. However prominent members of the Somaliland community have confirmed to the Somaliland Times that minister Qassim Sh. Yusuf has actually never been to the US.
Despite his claim of having visited Houston during the 3 rd leg of his tour, he actually didn’t go there at all. However the minister did visit London and Stavanger, Norway.
In Norway Mr. Qassim Yusuf signed an exclusive agreement with a Norwegian oil firm known as TGS to conduct a seismic survey in the country. It wasn’t known why Mr. Yusuf’s ministry didn’t ask for an international tender for carrying out the seismic work.
The minister of Minerals and Water left Hargeysa in March and remained stuck in Addis Ababa for more than 20 days.
Meanwhile the Korean National Oil Company (KNOC) bought about 75% of oil fields located in Sool and Sanag for a 10 million dollar signature bonus and 25 million dollar farm-in. The KNOC concluded the deal with Range Resources which on last year had obtained concessions from the Puntland authority to explore for oil and minerals. The agreement gives Range exclusive rights to oil and minerals in Puntland and parts of Somaliland including blocks 28 and 29.
The Somaliland government has so far declined to preserve the territorial integrity of the country’s eastern borders being claimed by Majertenia.
Source: Somaliland Times
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