KEY POINTS
- Turkey’s drilling ship Cagri Bey has arrived in Somali waters to begin the country’s first-ever offshore oil drilling operation.
- The Curad-1 well will be the first officially drilled offshore well in Somalia’s history, backed by a 2024 Turkey-Somalia energy agreement.
- Somalia may hold an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil, reserves that have remained untapped for decades due to conflict and lack of infrastructure.
Somalia has officially launched its first offshore oil drilling campaign. Turkey’s drilling ship Cagri Bey arrived in Somali waters this week, marking a moment officials described as historic and long overdue
The vessel departed from Tasucu port in Turkey’s Mersin province in February. It is expected to begin drilling the Curad-1 well later this month. That well will become the first officially drilled offshore well in Somali history.
Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar called the launch significant. “If successful, it could strengthen Somalia’s prospects for resource-led growth while also reinforcing the role of Turkey as a reliable long-term partner,” he said.
Years of groundwork before the drill
The drilling campaign did not happen overnight. Turkey and Somalia signed energy cooperation agreements in 2024, laying the legal and operational foundation. Turkish Petroleum Corporation’s survey vessel Oruc Reis was deployed to Somali waters in October 2024. The vessel completed a 234-day mission and collected 3D seismic data across three offshore blocks. The surveys covered roughly 4,464 square kilometers. Oruc Reis returned to Turkey in mid-2025.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said any discovery would carry major economic consequences for both countries. Cagri Bey will drill at depths of up to 3,480 meters. Somalia could not attempt that kind of operation without external support.
What Somalia stands to gain
Somalia’s petroleum minister Dahir Shire was direct about the stakes. “Those who are very pessimistic about Somalia’s oil and gas sector will be seeing something with their own eyes,” he said.
The country may hold an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil and natural gas. Decades of conflict, absent infrastructure and security threats kept those reserves untouched. Major global energy companies withdrew from Somalia after its government collapsed in 1991 and never fully returned.
Turkey’s willingness to operate under those conditions, providing technology, financing and naval escorts, made it the only viable partner for this phase of exploration.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister called Turkey a trusted long-term partner. The drilling of Curad-1 will test whether that trust produces something tangible beneath the Indian Ocean floor.
