Two new stories, both interesting, especially about the part about drilling in the Nugal Block before July 27th. They are already drilling in the Dharoor block and will be spudding another well, in the same block ,after they finish drilling their first well.
" Africa Oil wins new extension
In early January, Canada's Africa Oil and its partners on the Dharoor and Nogal blocks, Range Resources, Lion Energy and Red Emperor Resources, won a one-year extension of their exploration rights in the breakaway province of Puntland in north-east Somalia. In December, 2009, the companies already negotiated a first 12 month extension, promising to drill two wells (which they didn’t do). The new exploration period will last until Jan. 17, 2012 and calls on the firms to drill two wells, one in Nogal before July 27 and another on Dharoor before Sept. 27. "
" Puntland a pro-active oil player
Two wells are to be drilled in the first half of this year in the breakaway province of Puntland, which also wants to lure ConocoPhilipps back to the territory.
Sixty percent owned by Africa Oil Corp, Horn Petroleum began drilling its first well, Shabeel 1, in the Dharoor basin on Jan. 16. Three months later, drilling is to begin on a second well, Shabeel North 1, on the same block, and thereby comply - with a few months’ delay - with conditions laid down when its production sharing contact was extended for a year in January, 2011 (AEI 644).
While the boss of Puntland’s Petroleum & Mineral Agency, Issa Farah Dholowa, attended a ceremony inaugurating the drilling, another figure close to the province’s leader is emerging as a major force in the oil sector.
To be sure, Puntland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, last year asked his son to persuade ConocoPhilipps to return to the province. Kadir Abdirahman Mohamud travelled to the United States last September and met with a lobbyist hired by his father to lure the American oil company back. The lobbying concern, Moffett Group, is headed by former Democrat congressman Toby Moffett. Kadir Abdirahman, who was travelling as a special envoy of the Puntland leader, seized the occasion to address think tanks in Washington, such as the Atlantic Council and play up the area’s security and good business climate in comparison with Mogadishu’s.
Conoco explored the northern region of Somalia, and particularly Puntland and Somaliland, until 1988. The Somaliland mines minister, Hussein Abdi Dualeh, also tried in 2011 to persuade Conoco to return to Somaliland and also approached Chevron. "
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