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Ethiopia to begin extracting crude oil in its southeast - Reuters

ADDIS ABABA, June 27 (Reuters) – Ethiopia will begin extracting crude oil on a test basis from reserves in the country’s southeast this week, state-affiliated media and the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday.

 Fitsum Arega, chief of staff in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office, said on Twitter that Abiy had met with officials from Poly-GCL Petroleum Investment Limited to “officially kick-start crude oil production test in Ogaden Region”.

“The company has discovered that there is a prospect of commercial quantities of crude oil in the region,” Fitsum wrote.

The firm is a joint venture of state-owned China POLY Group Corporation and Hong Kong-based Golden Concord Group.

The state-affiliated Fana media quoted Abiy as saying 450 barrels would be produced on Thursday on a trial basis.

Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle Editing by Duncan Miriri/Mark Heinrich

Filed in: Current Affairs / News