New challenges facing oil drilling in Somalia

Mogadishu (Caasimada Online) – The Chairman of the National Oil Agency, Engineer Abdulqadir Aadan Mohamed, who gave an interview to the government media, provided details about the reasons for the delay in the oil drilling operations off the country's coast that had previously begun, with expectations to conclude this month of October.

Engineer Abdulqadir Aadan stated that significant efforts have been made to expedite the work and to conclude it within the previously announced timeframe. However, he pointed out that a challenge related to sea turbulence has arisen, which has affected ongoing operations and caused delays in the work schedule.

“First of all, the work is ongoing and is as planned, but things happen because the water is very deep, 3,500 meters, and it started during a time when the sea was turbulent, so all of that coincided,” said Engineer Abdulqadir Aadan.

He also mentioned that the oil drilling equipment at the Curad-1 well experienced a technical malfunction, which caused work to halt for three weeks, but once the issue was resolved, drilling operations were resumed.

“It was our plan to reach the target within the first 15 days of this month of October, but you can understand that when things happen, delays occur, so the equipment had a malfunction, and we had to repair it and then return it to the site, and it is heavy work,” said the chairman.

He also added that 5,500 meters have been excavated so far, while another 2,000 meters remain, and he mentioned that efforts are being made to complete the section as quickly as possible.

“Now we have excavated 5,500 meters, so we have 2,000 left, and this is the most important section,” the Chairman of the National Petroleum Authority reiterated.

However, the Federal Government has recently been focusing on plans related to the exploration and production of oil, with hopes for this resource being linked to economic growth, job creation, and increasing government revenue.