Puntland Forms Energy Ministry

Puntland has created a new energy ministry according to the government. President of the semi-autonomous Puntland, Mohamud Musse Hersi, named Hassan Osman Mohamud as the new Minister for Oil and Minerals. Information Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Bankah said, "That is a new ministry that will oversee that sector."

Several companies including China‘s CNOOC and China International Oil and Gas (CIOG) are reported to have signed agreements with Puntland, which was controlled by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed before he became president of Somalia in 2004.

In 2005, Range Resources Ltd, signed a mysterious deal with the Somali government for exclusive mineral and oil rights over a large slice of the country, sparking a standoff between Yusuf and former prime minister Ali Mohamed Gedi who quit in October.