planning to spud within weeks

Range nails down Somalia acreage
BARRY MORGAN
418 words
20 January 2006
Upstream
14
English
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Australian outfit readies to spud after winning Mogadishu nod

AUSTRALIAN minnow Range Resources has consolidated its claim to a vast tract of onshore and offshore acreage in the north-east province of Puntland in Somalia, and is planning to spud within weeks.

A land rig has been sourced for the job, which was held up for several weeks after the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) queried the documentation.

Last year, Range announced sweeping exploration and production rights in the region, previously held by ConocoPhillips, but Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi contested the jurisdiction of the Puntland government to sign off on mineral and petroleum rights without Mogadishu's consent.

Puntland's former warlord and President of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf, acted swiftly to smooth ruffled feathers and Gedi has now signed the deal.

Range first identified the play last year, with the assistance of Dubai-based Exile Resources, and bought the rights from Consort Private.

Gedi insisted that "foreign companies should desist in attempts to deal with local authorities without obtaining prior written consent from the TFG".

It is understood Range has launched a major recruiting drive to gain the necessary operational management skills for the job, located in one of Africa's most volatile regions.

Seismic consultant ECL has completed initial studies and Range is reinterpreting key data prior to defining drilling targets.

Range is considering several structures in the Nogal basin mapped out by ConocoPhillips in the early 1990s before the civil war prompted it to declare force majeure. ConocoPhillips drilled two untested probes in the area that hit oil before being hurriedly shut down.

Puntland borders the independent breakaway Republic of Somaliland, which hopes to launch its own exploration and production drive with companies that can overlook the latter's lack of recognised sovereign status.

Both the Sool and Sanag regions are disputed with Somaliland but indications are that targeted plays are located well away from these areas.

Range's territory is mainly onshore but sweeps to the coast, beyond which the company also holds the contiguous marine acreage. Chevron and Conoco-Phillips walked away from plots in the oil-prospective Las Anod region straddling Somaliland and Puntland.

Yusuf has been quoted by former Somali diplomatic sources as saying that significant amounts of oil and gas lie in key blocks 28 and 29 held by ConocoPhillips before the civil war.