Source: Financial Times

By Barney Jopson in Nairobi

The Chinese state oil giant, CNOOC, has won permission to search for oil in part of Somalia, underlining China's willingness to brave Africa's most volatile regions in its hunt for natural resources.

Somalia has been a no-go area for US oil companies since it descended into anarchy in the early 1990s. This year the capital, Mogadishu, has seen its worst violence in 16 years as insurgents seek to topple a fragile interim government.

But CNOOC has not been deterred and last month met Somali government officials in a Nairobi hotel to hammer out the details of its planned survey work, which is due to begin in September.

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Posted by pichu at July 14, 2007 11:34 PM