Somalia reboots terms of licensing round debut

The petroleum ministry is poised to publish a new timetable and hold a Houston roadshow

Somalia’s first ever offshore licensing round has suffered months of delays, but the government is gearing up for another push. It has equipped itself with a revamped production sharing agreement (PSA) template and says the enactment of its delayed petroleum law is imminent. The 15-block licensing round, covering 20,000km2, is also now backed by seismic data from Spectrum Geo (part of Norwegian-based TGS).  The round was formally launched in February complete with a detailed timetable, featuring a closing bid deadline of 7 November 2019. However, while presentations have been made in London, and at conferences in New Delhi and Cape Town since then, the process has stalled while the country’s