"People have been asking this question since the time of the Imperial Regime, but we have not been able to find any traces," he told the parliamentarians on Thursday, November 5, 2009. "However, gas reserves have been found in the Ogaden area of the Somali Regional State, and efforts are under way to produce the resource."
Gas production was delayed because of an attack by people with weapons against Chinese and Ethiopian workers in the Ogaden region in 2007. The armed assault killed 64 Ethiopians and nine Chinese. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has since claimed responsibility for the killing. The national programme to explore petroleum and gas reserves covers most parts of the country, the minister said.
"Previously we surveyed only the Ogaden region but now we are exploring almost 80pc of the land across the country," he said and added that his ministry has already given 17 licences to 11 companies that are engaged in different mining activities including the survey and excavation of wells.
Over 43tn of gold reserves have recently been found in Sakaro around Legedembi in southwestern Ethiopia and the Tulu Kabi area which is 450km west of Addis Abeba, near the border of Sudan, he recalled.
A number of mining projects are to start production in Wolega, Tigray and Southern Ethiopia, he added. Ethiopia earns about 105 million dollars annually from the sale of gold to international markets.
Source: Addis Fortune
by (OPSF)
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