Somalia to launch first offshore oil license round in 2017
CAPE TOWN, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Somalia will launch its first hydrocarbon licensing round early next year targeting offshore blocks, a government official said on Tuesday.
Shallow water block concessions signed in 1988 by Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) and ExxonMobil are excluded from the new bid round, said Jamal Kassim Mursal, permanent secretary at the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia)