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Sunday, June 30, 2019
Shell and Exxon Mobil eye Somalia oil
Reuters
Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are looking to return to Somalia ahead
of an oil block bid round later this year, the East African country’s
oil ministry said.
Shell and Exxon Mobil had a joint venture on five offshore blocks in
Somalia prior to the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the
early 1990s.
The country has experienced instability since Barre left and is battling
Al Shabaab, an Islamist group that frequently carries out bombings in
the country.
The exploration and development of the five offshore blocks was
suspended in 1990 under what is known as a “force majeure”, but Shell
and Exxon have accrued rentals to the government since then, Shell said
in a statement.
Exxon declined to comment and referred inquiries to Shell.
The troubled country currently does not produce any oil but production
could transform the economy as early stage seismic data has shown there
could be significant oil reserves offshore. “(An) agreement was signed
in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on June 21, 2019 and settles issues relating
to surface rentals and other incurred obligations on offshore blocks,”
the ministry said.
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