Could Somalia See The World's Next Major Oil Discovery?

AI Summary

Amidst risks rising in the Gulf region, the oil industry is exploring new frontier provinces for hydrocarbons, with the Curad-1 well off Somalia being a significant exploration targeting barrels that could bypass the Strait of Hormuz if successful.

As the Gulf (the world’s traditional energy centre) becomes riskier, the oil industry is searching for new hydrocarbon provinces. Much high-impact exploration is concentrated in Latin America and West Africa, far from Asia-Pacific, the main oil-demand growth centre. Somalia offers a different proposition: one of the industry’s hottest frontier wells is being drilled across the Arabian Sea and, if successful, could produce barrels that needn’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Curad-1 exploration well was appraised after TPAO’s…