Over two billion barrels of oil were discovered in the Blue Nile basin, a tributary of the Nile river, in the Ethiopian region of Amhara in the country’s north, Ethiopian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Takele Uma said on Wednesday.
“Oil exploration is being conducted in 5 basins throughout Ethiopia. In an oil exploration study conducted in Warra Iluu, part of the Abay (Blue Nile) basin, the study showed that there are more than 2 billion barrels of crude oil,” the minister wrote on Twitter.
The minister added that the government was working on utilizing the discovered oil resources to ensure the “prosperity of the nation.”