CITY & BUSINESS EDITED BY PETER CUNLIFFE - THE AIM MARKET
IF Range Resources is right, untapped oil reserves could soon bring badly needed foreign investment to Somalia.
The oil exploration company planning a £45million Aim listing this month believes the east African country is sitting on massive potential supplies.
It is exploring in the Puntland region where it says the geology is similar to that of oil-rich Yemen directly across the Gulf of Aden. Earlier exploration by Western oil companies was promising, but operations were halted during civil unrest in the 1990s.
Executive director Peter Landau said Puntland was more politically stable than other parts of the country and was keen to attract investment. Range, listed on the Australian stock exchange, has negotiated a six-year exploration and development agreement with Puntland.
Range, whose chairman is mining industry veteran Sir Sam Jonah, plans to raise about £2million from the listing, intended to create a more liquid market in the shares. Trading is to start on October 23 and the company's broker is FoxDavies Capital.
