Somalia's revenue law adds impetus to exploration drive

Efforts to attract investment to a 15-block offshore licensing round are gathering momentum

Parliamentary approval for a new petroleum law, which includes a revenue sharing agreement with the country's constituent states, should make Somalia's current offshore licensing round run smoother. But the focus on getting that legislation through has led to slippage in the timetable for the bidding process. An agreement between Somalia's federal government and the country's constituent states was regarded as crucial to avoid the licensing round procedure becoming bogged down in wrangling over the allocation of potential revenues from any future hydrocarbons discoveries between the central government and the states in whose waters they lie. The petroleum ownership management and revenue sha