A strongly-worded statement issued from the Puntland Ministry of Energy and Minerals and dated August 20 stated that the Puntland government is "unaware" of any oil deal between Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and two foreign companies.

Signed by Minister Hassan "Allore" Osman, the statement declared that "natural resources in Puntland fall completely under the jurisdiction of the Puntland Government."

Posted on the Puntland Government Website, Minister Allore's English-language statement defended Puntland's commitment to "existing agreement with Africa Oil and Range Resources."

On August 19, Garowe Online reported that TFG Oil Minister Mohamud Ali Salah signed an agreement with Kuwait Energy Company and Indonesia-based PT Medco Energy International, which would setup a jointly-operated Somalia Petroleum Company.

Parliament sources say lawmakers met in Baidoa and "approved" a Somalia Petroleum Law, which was originally prepared by ex-Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, with technical assistance from Kuwait Energy and PT Medco.

Eleven clauses in Gedi's original Petroleum Law were "changed" and lawmakers "did not hold any debate on the [Petroleum] Law as a whole," the sources added.

Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein are both in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin accused them of being an "obstacle to peace." [ READ: Ethiopian FM blasts Somalia's leaders]

Further, there is growing concern that a new rift is emerging between the Ethiopian-backed TFG in Mogadishu and Puntland, the Somali interim government's biggest domestic backer.

Somalia has no proven oil reserves, but since 2005, the country's oil sector has been under political scrutiny as various governments and foreign companies competed for exploration rights.

The Horn of Africa country of 8 million people has been mired in nearly 18 years of civil war and military occupation, with an Iraq-style Islamist insurgency raging in the southern regions since early 2007.