Turkey, Somalia to start first offshore drilling project at Somalian coast

A Turkish drilling ship docked at the port of Mogadishu on Friday ahead of Somalia's first offshore oil drilling project, the two countries announced.

A hydrocarbon development deal signed in 2024 granted Turkey's state-owned energy company the right to explore three offshore blocks of around 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 square miles) each.

In late 2024, another Turkish vessel carried out seismic surveys in the three blocks to identify drilling sites.

The Cagri Bey, featuring a red bow emblazoned with a white star and crescent and topped by a drilling derrick, arrived in Somali waters Thursday and docked in the capital's port Friday.

"It docked this (Friday) morning... the ship is very big, we have never seen anything like this at the port before," Abshir Yare, a port employee, told AFP.

The vessel will carry out "Somalia's first-ever offshore drilling operations", the African nation's state news agency SONNA reported Thursday. It will also conduct Turkey's "first overseas deep-sea drilling" operations outside its own waters, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on X.

Bayraktar was due to attend a ceremony at the Mogadishu port on Friday alongside Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, according to SONNA.

Turkey is one of Somalia's main military and economic partners, with Ankara inaugurating its largest overseas base in Mogadishu in 2017.