The Petroleum Law 2020 and the Somali Petroleum Authority, explained

Where Xidig members may contribute

• Legal and policy expertise: plain-language guides to the law and regulations, once official English texts are available.
• Transparency work: tracking published contracts and payments; explaining what EITI membership would involve.
• Skills: preparing Somali professionals for roles in regulation, safety, environment and supply.

Possible services, research, supplier or collaboration roles

• A contract and licence tracker, using official announcements.
• Research comparing revenue-sharing arrangements in other federal countries.
• Training on environmental and social impact assessment for offshore projects.

Who may find this useful

• Lawyers and policy analysts.
• Journalists and civil-society organisations.
• Petroleum and environmental professionals.
• Students of law, economics and geology.

How the system works

The law

• Passage: the Petroleum Law completed its passage through Parliament and was ratified on 8 February 2020 (SPA).
• Ownership: the SPA's explainer states: "Any petroleum discovery belongs to the Somali people".
• Institutions: the law created the SPA (under Article 19, according to the SPA's explainer) and provides for SONOC to take part in petroleum operations. Trade press in 2020 described SONOC as "a government-controlled entity charged with participating in petroleum operations".
• Governance questions: the SPA's explainer frames the law around "How is the money shared?", "How is the revenue managed?" and "How do we protect the environment?", and says "Transparent governance is key to the future of a stable petroleum industry for Somalia."
• Regulations: the petroleum ministry's website lists documents dated 2025, including "Petroleum Regulations 2025" and "Publication Standards of PSA 2025". A 2019 model production-sharing agreement is also hosted on the site. Xidig has not reviewed their contents.
• The text: the official copy on the ministry's website is a scanned PDF. Xidig has not verified the wording of its articles against it, including Article 20 (cited as SONOC's mandate in the government's national oil company proposal; see More about the source).

The regulator

• Established: the SPA says it "was established in July 2020 following the Presidential ratification of the Petroleum Law on 8 February 2020".
• Mandate: "To regulate, influence and promote the Somali petroleum industry in order to maximise the economic recovery of the country's oil and gas reserves".
• Oversight: the SPA's home page says it operates "under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources"; its About page refers instead to a National Resources Council.
• Board: the SPA described in 2022 a board of nine: "representatives from each of the 7 Member States, including Somaliland, and 2 from the Federal Government". In 2020 it noted: "There is a seat available for Puntland, but the state has not yet taken it up." Whether these seats are filled today is not stated. This is the SPA's description; the SPA's 2020 list of directors named Banadir, Hirshabelle, Galmudug, South West, Jubaland and Somaliland. Somaliland's own position differs (see Different views).
• Website: the SPA's site is hbs.gov.so. (The similar-looking spa.gov.so belongs to the Somali Ports Authority.)

Revenue sharing

• The 2018 agreement: the SPA says "The Resource Sharing Agreement signed on 5th June, 2018 mandated the establishment of the Somali Petroleum Authority", and elsewhere calls it the "Petroleum Ownership Management and Revenue Sharing Agreement between the Federal Government of Somalia and its Member States". Production-sharing agreements must be reviewed by an Inter-Ministerial Concessions Committee.
• The reported split: in 2019 the federal petroleum ministry announced, as reported by Petroleum Africa, that the central government would retain "only 55% (offshore) or 30% (onshore)" of revenues, with the remainder going to "non-Federal institutions". The same announcement said the agreement's terms "are now enshrined in the Petroleum Law", which it said had passed Parliament on 20 May 2019, before the law's ratification in February 2020. Xidig has not seen the official text of the agreement or how the remainder is divided, and has not checked these terms against the final ratified law.
• The constitution: the 2012 Provisional Constitution says the allocation of natural resources "shall be negotiated by, and agreed upon, by the Federal Government and the Federal Member States" (Article 44).
• Policy aims: the 2017 National Petroleum Policy commits to "Ensure that the Federal Member States and the local communities receive a fair share of benefit from revenues emanating from petroleum operations".

Licensing and exploration so far

• 2020 licensing round: "On 4 August 2020, the Somali Petroleum Authority announced the opening of the country's first-ever offshore licensing round", for "up to seven blocks". Xidig found no official announcement of results.
• Legacy agreements: in February 2020 Somalia agreed an exploration roadmap with a Shell–ExxonMobil joint venture (SPA). Production-sharing agreements with Coastline Exploration were modified in 2022 after review.
• 2024 onwards: agreements with Türkiye (March 2024), Liberty Petroleum (three deepwater blocks, March 2024) and TPAO onshore (April 2025); seismic surveys completed for three offshore blocks (October 2025); and drilling of Curad-1, described as the first offshore exploration well, from April 2026. The SPA's director general said in late August 2026 that drilling could finish by the end of September; Xidig found no announcement of results by 30 September 2026. See the timeline in Oil and gas in Somalia: where exploration stands.
• Contract terms: the Türkiye agreements' terms have not been published on the official sites Xidig checked. Commentators have reported and debated the cost-recovery and royalty terms.

Different views

• Puntland and the federal government (2024): Puntland's minister said: "There are no clandestine negotiations here. Our interest is in open, fair agreements that serve the collective good." The federal petroleum minister said Puntland's president had "opposed our surveys in Puntland" and demanded "signing rights for operations that fall under the federal government's jurisdiction" (Hiiraan Online).
• Somaliland: in December 2022 the federal ministry rejected a licence issued in Somaliland to Genel Energy, stating that "Any authorization granted in violation of Somalia's laws and regulations is unlawful and would be considered null and void" (Garowe Online). Garowe Online noted that Somaliland "has insisted that it has a right to explore such resources without permission from Mogadishu". Xidig did not find a direct Somaliland government statement on this licence.
• Commentary: a Goobjoog News columnist has argued that the Türkiye terms deny "Federal Member States and local communities the early revenues they depend on".
• Xidig takes no position on these disputes.

Transparency

• EITI: Somalia is not an EITI implementing country. EITI membership would require publishing payments and contracts.
• Local content: the petroleum policy commits to "Develop a legal framework that ensures local content covering technology and knowledge transfer, capacity building of local industry and local employment opportunities". Xidig found no local-content regulation.

Dependencies and implementation constraints

• Agreement on ownership and revenue sharing between federal and member-state authorities.
• A working national oil company and a staffed regulator.
• Published regulations and contracts.

Risks and unknowns

• Disputes over who can license and who receives revenue.
• Opaque contracts that undermine trust.
• Expectations running ahead of discoveries, since none has been confirmed.
• Environmental risks to fisheries and coastal communities.

Questions members should verify before acting

1. What exactly do Article 20 and the revenue-sharing provisions of the law say?
2. Have the 2018 agreement and the 2025 regulations been published in full?
3. Which licences are currently valid, and who issued them?
4. Has Somalia applied to join EITI?

What is confirmed, and what isn't

Confirmed

• The law's ratification date and the SPA's establishment, mandate and board structure, as described by the SPA.
• The 2020 licensing round's opening and the 2024–2026 agreements.
• The public statements quoted above.
• Somalia's absence from EITI.

Our interpretation

• The main open questions are governance and agreement between levels of government, more than exploration itself.

Not yet verified

• The law's exact wording, including Article 20 and the revenue-sharing provisions.
• The official percentages in the 2018 agreement.
• Results of the 2020 licensing round.
• Results of the Curad-1 well.
• The current membership of the SPA board.

Relevant next steps

• Read the SPA's and petroleum ministry's websites for official texts and announcements.
• Seek qualified legal advice before relying on any provision.