Coastline Exploration, an upstream oil and gas company focused on East Africa, announces that regarding the signing of seven Production Sharing Agreements ("PSAs") covering offshore, deep-water blocks of Somalia, it confirms it has received final authorisation for it to proceed with its exploration programme from the competent authorities within the Federal Government of Somalia ("FGS").
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a result, in line with the terms of the PSAs, Coastline has paid the agreed $7 million signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank.
Authorisation was granted following conclusion of an in-depth review conducted by the FGS into the process followed by Coastline and by the relevant Somali Ministries and related advisory groups with respect to the signing of the seven PSAs in February of this year.
Coastline estimates that approximately 100,000 barrels of oil a day will flow from each discovered field, and in the success case Coastline hopes to discover multiple offshore oil fields.
Abdirizak Mohamed, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, said: "Having seen how transformational new domestic energy sources have been for other countries in Africa, we are very excited by the potential of these offshore oil fields. Today's announcement really kick starts the energy industry in Somalia and is a turning point for the development of what is a critical revenue-generating area for the country."
W. Richard Anderson, Chief Executive of Coastline, commented: "Receiving the clearance authorisation means that we are now able to start our exploration programme. Revenues from the discovery of commercial quantities of oil will be transformative for Somalia from which the government could finance investments in education, infrastructure, healthcare and other vital services, which will benefit all of the people of Somalia, delivering continued economic growth and improving the standard of living."
Jacob Ulrich, non-Executive Chairman of Coastline, said: "We are delighted to have been given the go-ahead with the PSAs and we feel confident that we will discover major energy reserves which will have a materially positive impact on all Somalis. With the right partners in place and a supportive government, Somalia's nascent energy industry can look to the future with confidence now that there is a clear road map to potentially securing a sustained domestic oil and gas supply." ■
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