(Adds Shell comment)
MOGADISHU, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell and
Exxon Mobil have paid $1.7 million to Somalia to lease
offshore blocks for 30 years, the country's state news agency
reported on Friday.
"Shell/Exxon Mobil have paid $1.7 million to Somalia as the
preliminary rent for 30 years," SONNA reported.
Shell and Exxon Mobil had a joint venture on five offshore
blocks in Somalia prior to the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre in the early 1990s.
A Shell spokesman said that the payment was for
retrospective charges and that operations on the blocks remain
suspended in what is known as a force majeure.
The country has been mired in insecurity since Barre left
and is battling Islamist group al Shabaab that frequently
carries out bombings in the capital Mogadishu and elsewhere in
the country.
In June, the oil ministry announced that the two companise
were looking to return to Somalia ahead of an oil block bid
round later this year.
(Reporting by Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Maggie Fick; editing by
David Evans and Louise Heavens)
