Ethiopia Expects to Begin Exporting Gas in Three to Five Years

Ethiopia expects to start exporting gas in next three to five years, Associated Press reported citing a statement by local government official.

Country's Mines Minister Tolossa Shagi said Friday the country expects to make in excess of $1 billion in annual foreign exchange earnings from gas exports.

Earlier this year, Reuters reported that several firms have already acquired licenses to explore more than 40 blocks throughout Ethiopia in the past four years, the vast majority of them in the southeastern Somali Region. The Calub and Hilala fields in the Ogaden Basin have deposits of 4.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and 13.6 million barrels of associated liquids, both discovered in the 1970s but not yet exploited.

China's GCL-Poly Petroleum Investments signed a production sharing deal with Ethiopia's mines ministry in late 2013 to develop both fields, according to Reuters.