Dow Jones Newswires
Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSA, RDSA.LN) African exploration
interests are currently focused on Tanzania and Zanzibar, CEO Peter Voser said
Thursday, though he also mentioned the oil giant has blocks of land available
in Somalia.
Mr. Voser's Somalia comments are the clearest indication
yet the Anglo-Dutch major may exercise exploration rights that are more than 20
years old, signed before the African nation descended into brutal civil war. He
addressed the company's interests in Africa with reporters on the sidelines of
a luncheon in Boston.
"We have our exploration blocks in Tanzania Zanzibar
and that has all of our focus at the moment," Mr. Voser said, while
declining to address a reporter's question about Mozambique.
Meantime, "we have also further blocks further north
in Somalia. So we are pursuing our organic exploration strategy," the CEO
also said.
Shell, along with fellow oil majors BP PLC (BP, BP.LN)
and Chevron Corp. (CVX), were granted exploration licenses for Somalia by the
then-government of Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, whose regime was toppled
in 1991. The companies declared force majeure and quit Somalia as the country descended
into lawlessness.
Speculation has swirled since the election of a new
permanent president last year as to whether big Western oil companies would be
encouraged to return, bringing much needed investment. The issue has been
complicated by two semi-autonomous regions in northern Somalia, Puntland and
Somaliland, which have granted their own licenses to smaller, more prospective
explorers, some which overlap with earlier licenses handed out to other firms.
Mr. Voser addressed broader themes in his address to the
Boston College-hosted event, such as how booming natural gas supplies can help
lessen greenhouse gas emissions.
Write to Jon Kamp at jon.kamp@dowjones.com
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