Genel Energy may drill in Somaliland soon, chief says

Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy might start drilling in Somaliland next year, chief executive Murat Ozgul said on Thursday, as the group reported 2017 results broadly in line with expectations.

“For the long term, I really like [our] Somaliland exploration assets. It’s giving me a sense of Kurdistan 15 years ago,” Mr Ozgul said. “In 2019 we may be [starting] the drilling activities,” Reuters reported.

Chief financial officer Esa Ikaheimonen said Genel will focus spending money from its $162 million cash pile on its existing assets in Kurdistan but added: “You might see us finding opportunities … somewhere outside Kurdistan.”

The news comes as Karo Resources, a company linked to mining entrepreneur Loucas Pouroulis, said it will spend $4.2 billion on a Zimbabwean platinum project in the first big investment since President Robert Mugabe’s ousting in November, according to Bloomberg.

The deal is the largest to date in Zimbabwe’s mining industry, Mines Minister Winston Chitando said. President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared the “country open for business” as he seeks to revive the economy and attract investment.

“It is not business as usual anymore,” the president said on Thursday. “Things have to change.”

Source:https://www.thenational.ae/