Ogaden Basin

The Ogaden Basin is an area of Huwan that may hold significant reserves of crude oil and natural gas.

Companies with concessions in the basin include Netherlands registered Pexco Exploration, Petronas (Malaysia), Lundin East Africa (Sweden), SouthWest Energy Ltd. (Hong Kong), and Afar Explorer (USA).

[3] The Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia took place for the control of the region between 1977 and 1978, with a further clash in 1988.

In recent years the armed wing of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been active, and the rebel group has stated that they will not allow the resources of the region to be exploited, urging international oil companies not to sign agreements with the Ethiopian government.

[6] The facility was being operated by the Chinese Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, a subsidiary of Sinopec,[7] on behalf of the Malaysian oil multinational Petronas.