CAPE TOWN, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Somalia will launch its firsthydrocarbon licensing round early next year targeting offshoreblocks, a government official said on Tuesday.
Shallow water block concessions signed in 1988 by Shell and ExxonMobil are excluded from the new bidround, said Jamal Kassim Mursal, permanent secretary at theministry of petroleum and mineral resources. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Ed Stoddard; Editing by JamesMacharia)