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Somalia: Range Resources Questions Puntland, Federal Govt Relations
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Garowe Online (Garowe)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Garowe
Australia-based junior oil company Range Resources, Ltd., has resumed trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), following a one-day trading halt requested by the company.
In a statement signed by company secretary Peter Landau, Range Resources requested the ASX to halt the trading of Range shares until the government of Puntland, in northeast Somalia, issues "clarification" on the relationship between Puntland and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
But the company resumed trading on Tuesday after a letter signed by Puntland Oil and Minerals Minister Hassan "Allore" Osman was published on the Puntland government Web site, PuntlandGovt.com.
In the letter, Minister Allore chastised the TFG minister for petroleum, Mr. Mohamud Ali Salah.
"The itinerant Minister [Salah] is the latest of a long list of individuals, both private and governmental, engaged in harassing our partners [Range Resources & Africa Oil Corp.] to undermine the stability and development goals of Puntland," read Puntland Oil Minister Allore's statement.
The Minister's press statement reiterated the regional administration's position that "Puntland reserves the right to manage its natural resources."
Also, Minister Allore claims that "TFG senior members" have distanced themselves from TFG Petroleum Minister Salah's press release last week denouncing the Puntland government's controversial oil law.
The oil law, which created uproar inside the Puntland Parliament, has renewed tensions with the TFG regarding the management of the country's resources.
Range Resources and its Canadian farm-in partner, Africa Oil, hope to begin drilling operations in parts of Puntland by July.
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The company's announcement comes on the heels of a letter signed by 26 Members of Parliament in Puntland demanding that the controversial oil law be returned to Parliament for ratification.
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