The goverment of Somalia has denied claims that it has auctioned disputed oil blocks at the Indian Ocean.
For months now, Kenya and Somalia have been at loggerheads over the oil blocks, with the two countries moving to The Hague for resolution.
Last month, International Court of Justice postponed hearing of the case to June 2020 following Kenya's request to be granted more time.
Somalia's Petroleum minister Mohamed Ahmed on Tuesday said the oil blocks earmarked for leasing are far from the disputed area.
The minister, who was addressing oil and gas conference in South Africa, added that Somalia will thrive in the business due to reduced cases of piracy.
"Somalia was known before for piracy, terrorists, unrest and all that, but the federal government of Somalia is doing its best to stabilise the country," Ahmed said.
"Somalia has a roadmap we can follow after we produce oil, so there will be no (resource) curse here in Somalia," he said, referring to a tendency among some resource-rich countries to suffer from economic stagnation.
Already, Shell and Exxon Mobil have paid a total of $1.7 million to Somalia goverment, which would allow them to run some deposits for over 30 years.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has been pushing for out of court settlement, a move which was opposed by his Somalia counterpart Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Kamau Macharia last week accused Farmajo of orchestrating the standoff between the two nations.