Why didn’t the British in Somali region, discover oil like they did with their Gulf colonies?

[lulu2]

Oil in the gulf was discovered about 100 years ago and made the region wealthy by the 1950s and 60s.

100 years later Somalia’s oil gets discovered by Turkey and there’s 30 years left of oil being usable.

Wtf were the British doing in the Somali region? Why were they more invested in the barren Gulf when Somalia was a little better off and more green in the North.

 

[Garsoore]

They simply didn't control it.

 

[Midas]

Oil in the gulf was discovered about 100 years ago and made the region wealthy by the 1950s and 60s.

100 years later Somalia’s oil gets discovered by Turkey and there’s 30 years left of oil being usable.

Wtf were the British doing in the Somali region? Why were they more invested in the barren Gulf when Somalia was a little better off and more green in the North.

There was huge intrest in saudi arabia because the hejaz region being the location of mecca and Medina and the British and other powers wanting to weakne the ottomans.

So they help the Saudis unify the peninsula. Which is much easier than unifying somalia. Since like 90% of saudi arabia is uninhabitable and all the pouplation centers are concentrated around the hejaz coast with the exception of Riyadh and a few others.