U.S. Firm Surrenders Seven Somalia Offshore Blocks as Turkish Drillship Moves In

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: A U.S.-based oil company has surrendered seven offshore blocks awarded under production sharing agreements with Somalia’s federal government, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has disclosed, citing the company’s inability to finance its contractual obligations.
Speaking in a recent podcast interview, President Mohamud did not identify the company by name, but the disclosure points almost certainly to Houston-based Coastline Exploration Limited — the only company to have been awarded seven offshore blocks in Somalia. The Federal Government of Somalia ratified seven production sharing agreements with Coastline in October 2022, following five amendments to the original deal signed earlier that year, with the company paying a $7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank as part of that arrangement. Coastline had since been restructured and rebranded under Aquila Coastline Ventures, with its exploration mandate absorbed in part by Soma Oil & Gas.
President Mohamud told the interviewer that investment capital for petroleum exploration has become increasingly scarce globally, leaving some licence holders unable to advance their commitments. The relinquishment, he said, reflected that financing reality rather than any dispute over Somalia’s resource governance framework.
The President used the occasion to highlight Turkey’s emergence as a credible alternative partner. In October 2024, the Turkish exploration vessel Oruç Reis completed 3D seismic surveys covering more than 4,000 square kilometres of Somali offshore waters, and in April 2025, the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed an onshore exploration and production agreement covering three additional blocks spanning 16,000 square kilometres.
Somalia’s Petroleum Minister has separately warned that companies failing to meet their contractual milestones will not be permitted to hold Somalia’s resources indefinitely. The Minister also disclosed that a second company — U.S.-based — had relinquished two of its three offshore blocks under comparable circumstances, though that firm was also not named.
A Contested But Coveted Frontier
Somalia’s offshore potential has long outpaced its exploration reality. International oil companies including Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil and Shell began exploring in Somalia in the 1950s but departed when the country collapsed into civil war in 1991. Efforts to revive the sector gained momentum after seismic surveys conducted by TGS in 2014 indicated the potential presence of up to 30 billion barrels of crude across 15 offshore blocks.
Seven oil companies currently hold licences in Somalia — Shell and ExxonMobil, Coastline Exploration, Liberty Petroleum, GulfSom Energy, TPAO, RAK Gas, and Genel Energy — covering a combined 31 blocks comprising 18 offshore and 13 onshore areas. Shell and ExxonMobil’s presence, however, remains nominal, with the two majors yet to resume substantive exploration since their pre-civil war exit. In March 2020, the petroleum ministry agreed an initial roadmap with both companies, but no drilling commitments have materialised.
Liberty Petroleum, a Phoenix, Arizona-based firm, signed three production sharing agreements with the federal government in March 2024, covering offshore blocks 131, 190 and 206. Soma Oil & Gas, separately, holds interests in three offshore blocks — 129, 130 and 192 — under production sharing agreements ratified by the federal government, spanning more than 10,000 square kilometres.
Turkey’s Consolidating Position
The relinquishments come as Ankara deepens its footprint in Somalia’s upstream sector. TPAO has invested in three offshore blocks and initiated 3D seismic surveys, and is now the only foreign partner actively conducting field operations. Industry observers suggest the pace of Turkish activity is prompting Mogadishu to enforce a stricter posture toward licence holders who remain in exploratory limbo.
Turkey’s drilling vessel Çağrı Bey was deployed to Somali waters in February 2026, marking the start of Ankara’s first-ever overseas deepwater exploration campaign. Speaking at the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit, President Erdoğan said Turkey aims to complete the drilling operation off Somalia’s coast within six to nine months, describing it as historically significant as Turkey’s first deep-sea exploration mission abroad. He added that Ankara’s desire is to deliver the good news the Somali people have long been waiting for, though he cautioned the timeline remained subject to weather and sea conditions. The drilling is taking place in waters off Galmudug state in central Somalia and, if it yields a commercial discovery, would be the first in the country’s modern history.
The relinquishment of seven blocks by a company once heralded as the vanguard of Somalia’s oil sector underscores the persistent gap between frontier promise and investment follow-through — and signals that Mogadishu is no longer prepared to allow that gap to widen indefinitely.