January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 16: Ethiopia signed an oil exploration deal with the British firm White Nile for 29,500 square kilometre (11,400 square miles) block in the south of the country, the government announced on Wednesday.

“The Ministry of Mines and Energy has signed here on Tuesday an agreement with White Nile Limited, an England-based Petroleum Company that would enable (it to) later explore and develop petroleum in South Ethiopia Peoples’ State,” a statement said.

“The Southern Ethiopian rift basins in the Omo and Chew Bahir areas were considered to be some of the petroleum potential areas in Ethiopia,” the statement added.

In recent years, Ethiopia has signed 12 different exploration deals with foreign companies for blocks along the border with Sudan, in the troubled southern Ogaden region and in the northern Nile Basin region.—AFP