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Somalia favours firms with pre-1991 deals for oil exploration

October 3, 2012 · 3560910 Comments2012-10-03+16%3A01%3A30SomalilandPress

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

LONDON Oct 2 () – Somalia, hoping to share in East Africa’s oil and gas boom, has invited back international oil companies that held exploration licences before civil war broke out two decades ago, an adviser to the government said.

Abdullahi Haider, a senior adviser to Somalia’s Ministry of Energy, said the country would honour contracts signed prior to 1991 with oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chevron.

“They will be given priority,” Haider said of the companies that had signed exploration deals before the conflict.

Somalia will offer onshore and offshore exploration blocks to companies in a licencing round early next year, Haider added, a process that would enable new companies to come to the country as well as those with permits from the 1980s.

“I’ve seen so many people who are very much interested like Shell, like Chevron. I’ve met them here and they expressed very high interest,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in London on Tuesday.

The government had sent a letter to the companies inviting them to come and negotiate on new contract terms, he added.

Somalia inaugurated a new president in mid-September in the first such ceremony for over 20 years, prompting hopes that it had turned a corner after a regionally-brokered, United Nations-backed effort to end fighting in which tens of thousands of people were killed.

The country hopes exploration by major oil companies will enable it to participate in the excitement over a string of discoveries in East Africa that have aroused expectations the region will become an important energy supplier.

Should companies choose to return, they will negotiate with the government over converting the old royalty-based contracts into production sharing agreements.

Any companies that signed oil exploration deals after 1991 could negotiate but would not be given priority, he said.

Somalia also hopes to resolve a maritime border dispute with its southern neighbour, Kenya.

The disagreement between the two has threatened to upend some exploration rights that Kenya has granted to oil and gas companies including France’s Total and Texas-based Anadarko.

“This dispute can be regulated in a friendly way,” Haider said.

Source: Reuters

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By SomalilandPress

Tags: contracts, oil expolration, Somalia

Ali1 says:

This so called energy adviser to the so called Somali gov needs to get his FACTS right. First of all 70 per cent of pre-1991 oil concession blocks are within the territory of Somaliland and it would be the decision of the Somaliland government and its people whether or not to renew the concession rights in our country!!!

5:03 pm on October 3, 2012

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amal says:

Since Somaliland joined Somalia voluntarily in 1960, it should be Somaliland's full choice to either separate or join again.

8:41 am on October 4, 2012

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HAWIYE WARRIOR says:

This message is as much directed to Kenya as it is to Puntland/Somaliland or any other so called autonomy regions. By allowing the big players to keep their bigger contracts in Somalia they will hesitated to even look at the so called disputed waters which everyone know is Somali territory. This is diplomatic brilliance at its best now all Sheikh Hassan has to do is to make sure the Somali people own at least 51% i prefer 55/60% but nothing less than 51%.

11:10 am on October 4, 2012

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- libaan says:
  
  i agree, long live Dir Hawiye Irir
  
  2:36 pm on October 7, 2012
  
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Xtrim.snm says:

Weell f*%k ur community woevr it myb international or ur daroodism……. Abt ur bble, we don use it neithr do we recognize it so u can use it in koonfur. Wats ours remains ours evn if u wa 2 collude with thoz big firms, i promise u snm still alive, then tell me how will ur gvt go about drilling on aw land wile we(snm) r watching? We don care if u honour ur historical contracts or not as long as its not within somaliland…. Well il b more than intrested if the somali gvt nullified thos cotracts aftr 1991 signed by its membr states starting with pirateland…….that will b mo than satisfying news 2me hahahaha again hahaha………they'v bin making loud noises recently.

2:13 am on October 5, 2012

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Truth says:

Pleas go and learn the English grammar.

9:16 am on November 12, 2012

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Truth says:

Lol @PuntlandGeezer (PIS)…. No one wants you and your pathetic grass eating people Amal, just leave Awdal State and Khaatumo state who clearly stated that they don't want to be part your secession alone. You can make you little land between Hargeysa and Burco ''QaldaanLand'' if you want. You can have your independence just leave the Lands of those that don't want to be part of you alone. Don't you think that's fair?

9:24 am on November 12, 2012

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Truth says:

To Isaaq people………No one wants you, just leave Awdal State and Khaatumo state who clearly stated that they don't want to be part your secession alone. You can make you little land between Hargeysa and Burco ''QaldaanLand'' if you want. You can have your independence just leave the Lands of those that don't want to be part of you alone. Don't you think that's fair?

9:30 am on November 12, 2012

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Truth says:

To Isaaq people………No one wants you, just leave Awdal State and Khaatumo state who clearly stated that they don't want to be part of your secession alone. You can make you little land between Hargeysa and Burco ''QaldaanLand'' if you want. You can have your independence just leave the Lands of those that don't want to be part of you alone. Don't you think that's fair?

9:32 am on November 12, 2012

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Sassi says:

Where did you read that?

2:38 pm on November 17, 2012

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