(Adds details)
CAPE TOWN, March 2 (Reuters) - Somalia has agreed an initial
roadmap with a Shell/Exxon joint venture to
explore and develop potential offshore oil and gas reserves, the
Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said on Monday.
"I am delighted we have agreed an initial roadmap with the
Shell/Exxon joint venture. This gives us confidence in
(the)ability to further explore any offshore hydrocarbon
potential," minister Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed said in a
statement.
Last month Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo signed
petroleum legislation into law to help open up a new frontier
market in Africa as the strife-torn country hopes new petroleum
finds will help transform its economy.
Seismic data suggests there could be significant oil
reserves offshore.
In October Shell and Mobil, which had a joint venture on
five offshore blocks in Somalia prior to the toppling of
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in the early 1990s, agreed to pay
the government $1.7 million for historic leasing of the blocks.
Exxon Mobil and Shell were not immediately available to
comment.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by David Evans)
