Wednesday February 20, 2019
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADV) – A new evidence in the row between Kenya and Somalia has revealed an interesting twist in favor of Somalia, sources said Wednesday.
Kenya’s leading Daily Nation reports that the Norwegian consultancy firm that gathered data on Mogadishu’s oil stock in the Indian Ocean says it only worked on blocks in Somali territory contrary to the misunderstanding that fuelled the diplomatic row.
The misunderstanding culminated in a diplomatic row with the withdrawal of both envoys within a space of 48 when the event erupted last Thursday.
The Kenyan media giant said information gathered by the Norwegian Spectrum Geo was used to market the blocks to investors in London.
In a brief statement on Monday, Graham Mayhew, the company’s Executive Vice-President for Africa, said it had been contracted to gather seismic data only in Somali territory, avoiding the regions contested by Kenya.
“Spectrum acquired a total of 20,185km of 2D seismic data, in a grid stretching from south of the maritime border with the Federal State of Puntland, to north of the maritime border with the Republic of Kenya.
“All of this seismic data was acquired wholly within the maritime territory of the Federal Government of Somalia and no data were acquired within the area currently the subject of the maritime delimitation case with Kenya,” he said.
The company, though not responding directly, was referring to Kenya’s claim on Saturday that Somalia had “auctioned” oil blocks belonging to Nairobi, during an oil conference on February 7 in London.
© Bur-csa – A.H – N.A / From our regional correspondent Tamba Jean-Matthew III – African Daily Voice (ADV) – Follow us on Twitter : @ADVinfo_eng