Somalia on Sunday rejected accusations by Kenya that it had auctioned off oil and gas blocks in a disputed maritime area. Nairobi on Saturday recalled its ambassador from Mogadishu for “urgent consultations” over the maritime border dispute that involves lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits. Kenya said it had acted because of an “egregious decision by the government of Somalia to auction off oil and gas blocks in Kenya’s maritime territorial area that borders Somalia”. Mogadishu’s case against Nairobi focuses on an attempt to redraw the sea border which would affect at least three of Kenya’s 20 offshore oil blocks. A relative newcomer to the oil industry but seen as having major potential, Kenya has already awarded three oil blocks to Italian energy company Eni SpA.

Source: Punch February 17, 2019 22:07 UTC