Prime Minister Dr. Abiy briefing media (Photo Gebabo Gebre)
ADDIS ABABA- Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed said fostering unity and cooperation among the peoples of the country would help step up its resource utilization potential as crude oil production test is set to begin today in Shinile Zone of the Somali State.
The Premier conferred yesterday with Barton Yu, Chairman of POLY-GCL Petroleum Group, a Chinese company which is in charge of the oil exploration and production.
Dr. Abiy said that the trace of oil will be fully investigated and carefully assessed to know the exact reserve potential where production test is due to start today. The oil production test will be carried out in three areas of Ilala and Kulab areas of Shinile zone.
"What matters is the way the country uses its resources. There must be national consensus on fair and equal utilization of resources," the Prime Minister said. "Sometimes resource is a source of conflict as witnessed in other countries. In fact, what comes first is ensuring fair and equitable wealth distribution and promoting sense of national unity.
"That way, the country would be able to unleash its potential and make use of it to sustain the ongoing economic development of the country."
While it is a boon to the growth non-oil economy, the country must also strive to sustain the performance of the agriculture, manufacturing and other sectors which remain key contributors to the GDP.
It was also revealed that the construction of a pipeline connecting the natural gas production area with Djibouti will be commenced on the upcoming September to begin production and export in 2021.
The country is expected to earn a yearly income of over 1.2 Billion USD from natural gas export in the first few years of production. The earning will gradually increase and reach up to seven billion USD.
The natural resource if used fairly and properly could help generate beg sum of hard currency and speed up economic growth while creating ample job opportunities.
Ethiopia’s natural gas reserve is estimated to be 8 trillion cubic feet.