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