The World Bank reports that electricity is now in large part supplied by local businesses.[196] Among these domestic firms is the Somali Energy Company, which performs generation, transmission and distribution of electric power.[209] In 2010, the nation produced 310 million kWh and consumed 288.3 million kWh of electricity, ranked 170th and 177th, respectively, by the CIA.[3] Oil blocks in Puntland Somalia has reserves of several natural resources, including uranium, iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt and natural gas. The CIA reports that there are 5.663 billion cu m of proven natural gas reserves.[3] Due to its proximity and geological similarity to the oil-rich Gulf Arab states such as Yemen, energy industry representatives believe that the nation contains substantial unexploited reserves of oil.[210] However, the presence or extent of proven oil reserves in Somalia is uncertain. The CIA asserts that as of 2011 there are no proven reserves of oil in the country,[3] while UNCTAD suggests that most proven oil reserves in Somalia lie off its northwestern coast, in the Somaliland region.[211] A survey of Northeast Africa by the World Bank and UN ranked Somalia second only to Sudan as the top prospective producer.[210] An oil group listed in Sydney, Range Resources, estimates that the Puntland region in the northeast has the potential to produce 5 billion barrels (790×106 m3) to 10 billion barrels (1.6×109 m3) of oil,[212] compared to the 6.7 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Sudan.[213] As a result of these developments, the Somalia Petroleum Corporation was established by the federal government.[214] In the late 1960s, UN geologists also discovered major uranium deposits and other rare mineral reserves in Somalia. The find was the largest of its kind, with industry experts estimating that the amount of the deposits could amount to over 25% of the worlds then known uranium reserves of 800,000 tons.[215] In 1984, the IUREP Orientation Phase Mission to Somalia reported that the country had 5,000 tons of uranium reasonably assured resources (RAR), 11,000 tons of uranium estimated additional resources (EAR) in calcrete deposits, as well as 0-150,000 tons of uranium speculative resources (SR) in sandstone and calcrete deposits.[216] Somalia evolved into a major world supplier of uranium, with American, UAE, Italian and Brazilian mineral companies vying for extraction rights. As of 2014, Kilimanjaro Capital has a stake in the 1,161,400 acres Amsas-Coriole-Afgoi (ACA) Block, which includes uranium exploration.[217] The Trans-National Industrial Electricity and Gas Company is an energy conglomerate based in Mogadishu. It unites five major Somali companies from the trade, finance, security and telecommunications sectors, following a 2010 joint agreement signed in Istanbul to provide electricity and gas infrastructure in Somalia. With an initial investment budget of $1 billion, the company launched the Somalia Peace Dividend Project, a labor-intensive energy program aimed at facilitating local industrialization initiatives.[218] According to the Central Bank of Somalia, as the nation embarks on the path of reconstruction, the economy is expected to not only match its pre-civil war levels, but also to accelerate in growth and development due to Somalias untapped natural resources
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 09:42:05 +0000
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