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The Federal Government of Somalia is on the verge of signing offshore oil exploration contracts with Liberty Petroleum Corporation and Coastline Exploration. Who are these companies?
Liberty Petroleum Corporation
According to records, Liberty Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1997 in Arizona. It claims to have completed 17 exploration projects thus far.
Nonetheless, the WHOIS records reveal the company’s domain name was registered in 2018, and the first content was uploaded to their website in late 2019 to early 2020, according to archive records ( http://web.archive.org/web/2020*/libertypetroleumcorp.com).
A lookup in Arizona’s Corporation Commission register reveals five companies, either named Liberty Petroleum or Petro-Quest and all connected to Franks brothers (more on this later). The companies are intended for different clients: Liberia, Nigeria, South America, et cetera.
Although Liberty Petroleum Corporation lists 13 partners on their website, most notably ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, their only current interests are three onshore basins and ’several blocks’ in three offshore basins, all in Australia.
Its key people are brothers Trent, Lane, and Travis Franks. Trent is a member of the Republican Party and a former congressman from Arizona’s 8th district, who was forced to resign in the first year of his 8th term following allegations of sexual abuse https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/08/us/politics/trent-franks-sexual-surrogacy-harassment.html
Coastline Exploration
Coastline Exploration’s website archive records point out the domain name existed since at least 2004; the WHOIS records, however, reveal that it was re-registered in 2013, possibly after the previous owner dropped it. The first meaningful content was uploaded in 2019.
Coastline Exploration says it was founded in 2018. It further says it ‘has been established to help develop the hydrocarbon industry within East Africa.’
The only news piece on their website is a 16-word paragraph that reads ‘Coastline Exploration Limited (the “Company” or “Coastline”) announces the appointment of Jacob Ulrich as non-Executive Chairman.’
The company does not list any board members or executives on its website, and the Jacob Ulrich name leads to no trail on the internet.
While it doesn’t list any projects, it states that it sees ‘tremendous potential for significant oil and gas discoveries in [Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania] and other countries within the region where prospective hydrocarbon basins have yet to be properly explored.’
Further digging up leads to evidence that points out the company is registered in the Cayman Islands. Finding information on Cayman Islands’ companies registry is a little tricky and requires registering and paying up to US$ 61 to find meaningful information. This is the result.
I do not want to reveal otherwise legally private information, but for anyone who wants to have a look at the details and is willing to pay the required fees, here is the link to Cayman Islands’ companies registry: https://online.ciregistry.gov.ky/cos/faces/home
Continuing to find more information on the formation of this company brought my attention to this London School of Economics blog post by Joakim Gundel, which claims Coastline Exploration Limited is Soma Oil & Gas. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2020/06/17/whats-the-oil-rush-in-somalia/
Joakim was a Sahan Research and UNMGSE associate at some point and we have disagreed many times over the past years, but this claim, published on a reputable institution carries its weight.
Moreover, Soma Oil & Gas has taken down their website at some point in the first half of 2019.
In conclusion, all evidences suggest Coastline Exploration is rebranded Soma Oil & Gas.
