Ankara, Türkiye – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Türkiye expects to complete its deepwater drilling operation off Somalia within six to nine months.
Speaking at the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit, Erdogan described the mission as a significant step in Ankara’s energy strategy, saying it marked Türkiye’s first overseas offshore exploration campaign.
“The operations we are conducting off the coast of Somalia are historically significant,” Erdogan said.
“If climate and weather conditions permit, we expect to complete the drilling operation within six to nine months.”
“Our desire is to give the brotherly Somali people, who have been struggling with internal instability and famine for many years, the good news they have been waiting for,” he added.
The remarks gave a fresh timeline for the high-profile mission by the Turkish drillship Cagri Bey, which arrived in Somalia in April to begin work at the Curad-1 well, about 370 kilometres off Mogadishu.
Turkish officials say the well could reach a total depth of 7,500 metres, including nearly 4,000 metres below the seabed, making it one of the most ambitious offshore drilling operations yet attempted in Somali waters.
First overseas test
The drilling campaign marks the most advanced stage in Somalia’s effort to test its offshore hydrocarbon potential.
For years, Somalia’s offshore oil prospects remained trapped between political uncertainty, insecurity and the absence of large-scale exploration.
But the Turkish mission has now moved that effort from diplomatic agreements and seismic surveys to the drill bit.
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at the April launch in Mogadishu that the mission opened “a new era in Turkish oil and natural gas exploration” and confirmed that Cagri Bey would carry out Türkiye’s first deep-sea drilling operation abroad in Somalia.
Türkiye named the well Curad, a Somali word meaning “firstborn child,” after officials said seismic analysis had identified a promising geological structure in the area.
“I believe a new era in energy is beginning in Somalia,” Bayraktar said, adding that Türkiye hoped to share news of “a promising discovery” with both Somalis and Turks in the coming months.
The drilling followed a 234-day survey by Türkiye’s Oruc Reis seismic vessel, which collected 3D data across 4,464 square kilometres in three offshore blocks after beginning work in Somali waters in October 2024.
Turkish officials say that data helped guide the choice of drilling location and will shape future evaluation of Somalia’s maritime areas.
National wealth
Somali officials have framed the drilling campaign as a national project rather than a regional one.
That message carries weight in a federal system where control of resources, revenue and territory remains one of the country’s most sensitive political questions.
At the Mogadishu launch ceremony, Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Dahir Shire Mohamed called it “a historic day” and “a new beginning in oil exploration and making use of the natural resources.”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said any benefits from Somalia’s resources would belong to the whole country.
“Natural resources are national wealth and will benefit all Somalis,” he said, adding that there was “no concept” that a well drilled in one region belonged only to that region.
His comments addressed a central challenge for Somalia as it tries to build an energy sector: who controls future revenues and how they should be shared among the federal government, member states, and local communities.
The issue has long carried political weight in a country where disputes over ports, security forces, taxation and territory often feed broader tensions between Mogadishu and regional authorities.
Strategic partnership
The drilling operation forms part of a wider Somalia-Türkiye partnership that has expanded from humanitarian aid and infrastructure into defence, maritime security and energy.
Türkiye and Somalia signed an offshore oil and gas cooperation agreement in March 2024, followed by a July deal giving Türkiye exploration and production rights in three offshore blocks.
Ankara also moved to protect its growing role in Somali waters.
In July 2024, Erdogan sought parliamentary authorisation to deploy Turkish military personnel to Somalia, including its territorial waters, after the two countries agreed on naval support linked to oil and gas exploration.
The energy push builds on a relationship that has grown steadily since Erdogan’s landmark 2011 visit to Mogadishu during a devastating famine.
Türkiye has since become one of Somalia’s closest foreign partners. It has built hospitals, roads and schools, offered scholarships, trained Somali forces and opened its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu in 2017.
For Somalia, the Curad-1 well offers a test of whether the country can turn offshore promise into a real industry after decades of war, weak institutions and insecurity kept major energy companies away.
For Türkiye, the operation supports a wider push to reduce dependence on imported energy and project Ankara as a global energy player.
Erdogan said Türkiye now pursues energy cooperation with Somalia and Pakistan, as well as with Libya and Central Asia, while continuing domestic production in the Black Sea and southeastern Türkiye.
He has cast the mission as a shared national moment for Türkiye and Somalia.