Earlier this week our contact in Bari province, Somalia let us know of quality testing that had been completed at the Shabeel-1 well site in the Dharoor valley basin. He stated that an API gravity of 37 degrees had been reported, with oil density estimated to be medium to light crude.

In an RNS report that came out on February 23, exploration teams stated that a depth of 1,230 meters had been reached, up from the February 4 depth of 1,100 meters. The report stated additionally that results would be due for the Shabeel-1 well before the end of March 2012, and that testing equipment is currently being mobilized to the site.

From what our contact told us, the testing for quality had already been completed as per the earlier leak, and that the new testing phase is to seek out the quantity of oil beneath the well. Furthermore, our contact joked that oil presence in the basins was not in doubt—unless anyone was interested in losing out on money.

Hirsi Fiqi, Editor