Recently Somalia passed a petroleum sector law paving the way for exploration in its waters. The new legislation allows for the creation of institutions to oversee the sector and for revenue sharing between the central government and federal states, among other objectives, the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources said in a statement. “This is a landmark in the development of Somalia’s natural resources, which will be transforma-tional for the country’s development,” the ministry said in the statement.
Somalia began preliminary preparations for a licensing round for 15 exploration blocks covering a total of 75,000 square kilometres, according to the statement.
“With the passage of the petroleum law it is anticipated that PSAs (production-sharing agreements) will subsequently be signed, which will enable exploration activity to then commence,” the statement said.
