ADDIS ABABA: The announcement made public on Thursday by Ethiopia's Mines Minister Sinknesh Ejigu that the government is to form the Petroleum Development Enterprise to increase oil and gas resources in partnership with private companies has unsettled the Ogaden region. Citizens and activists in the Eastern state near Somalia are worried that the new company is to be used to explore and use the are to take natural resources from the people, who have been battling for independence for nearly three decades. “We are concerned that this could lead to an increase in violence and abuses by the government if they attempt to proceed with exploration plans in Ogaden,” an Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) spokesperson told Bikyamasr.com on Thursday after the minister's interview was published. “Ogaden has seen the destruction of lives and natural resources over the years and we all fear this will lead to more unrest,” the spokesperson said. The state-owned company will “bolster and enhance development," the minister said today in a phone interview from the capital, Addis Ababa, with Bloomberg news agency. “A similar public enterprise will be set up to extract mineral resources including precious metals, tantalum and potash,” she said. The announcement comes after the government in July ended five production-sharing deals with PetroTrans after it cited a lack of progress being made by the Hong Kong-based enterprise. Sinknesh reportedly said last month that the government “may develop gas fields in the country's eastern Somali region after cancelling its contract with PetroTrans,” which Bloomberg reported “it had expected to bring financing of as much as $5 billion. The company rejected the termination of its contract.” The production-sharing accords were for 10 blocks in the Ogaden area of the Somali region, which include the Calub and Hilala fields with natural gas resources estimated at 4 trillion cubic feet. SouthWest Energy, an Addis Ababa-based company, has said it hopes to strike oil in the Ogaden next year. Now, the ONLF and citizens in the area believe the government itself want to take on Ogaden's massive natural resources, which could spark conflict in the turbulent area.
