Somalia blocks third attempt to licence offshore blocks

Prospective upstream players including Russian entrepreneur Alexander Dzhaparidze have encountered yet another setback in efforts to secure production-sharing agreements offshore Somalia. Houston-based Coastline Exploration, of which Dzhaparidze is a non-executive director, has taken on the business objectives of UK-registered Soma Oil and Gas, which first applied for the PSAs in 2015. Somalia approaches a financial precipice less than one month before the conclusion of a difficult election cycle, but its most recent attempt to get the oil deals signed has ended despite apparent support from petroleum minister Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed and Somali Petroleum Authority chairman Ibrahim Ali Hussein; the agreement was vetoed by both President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.