Somali president visits Turkish drillship as offshore oil exploration advances

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited Türkiye’s Çağrı Bey deepwater drilling vessel operating off Somalia’s coast on Friday to receive a briefing on the country’s first offshore exploration.

Mohamud traveled by helicopter to the vessel and toured its control room, where engineers and technical staff briefed him on drilling progress, equipment and preliminary findings from the Curad-1 exploration well, according to the Somali presidency.

“This landmark mission represents a significant milestone in Türkiye-Somalia energy cooperation,” the embassy said, adding that Ankara remained committed to supporting Somalia’s security, development and institutional capacity.

The Çağrı Bey arrived in Somalia in April after a 53-day voyage from Türkiye and began drilling at the Curad-1 well, marking Türkiye’s first deep-sea exploration drilling operation outside its own waters.

Türkiye’s Energy Ministry has said the vessel is expected to drill to a total depth of about 7,500 meters during an operation planned to last 288 days. The well sits in water roughly 3,480 meters deep.

The drilling campaign follows energy agreements signed by Somalia and Türkiye in 2024 covering offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration. Before the Çağrı Bey deployment, the Turkish seismic research vessel Oruç Reis surveyed three offshore blocks to identify potential drilling targets.

Somalia hopes the exploration program will determine whether commercially viable petroleum reserves exist beneath its offshore waters. No commercial discovery has yet been announced.

Mohamud’s government has portrayed development of the petroleum sector as a potential source of future investment, jobs and public revenue, while stressing that any resources should be managed transparently and benefit the wider population.

The president also visited an accompanying Turkish naval vessel during Friday’s trip, according to the Somali presidency.

The offshore campaign has become one of the most visible elements of a broader Somalia-Türkiye partnership that includes security, military training, infrastructure and development cooperation.

Türkiye’s Energy Ministry has described the Curad-1 operation as a strategic expansion of its overseas exploration program and said results from the well will determine whether further drilling is warranted.

Preliminary technical findings from the current operation have not been made public, and officials have not announced whether hydrocarbons have been discovered in commercially recoverable quantities.