Traditional water exploration and exploitation is severely limited in aspects such as depth, resources and technology. At the same time, the oil sector has progressed beyond these limitations and have drilled thousands of meters into the ground, often in reservoirs with abundant freshwater. Somalia has been the focus of different oil and gas exploration campaigns; to date, about 80 oil and gas wells have been drilled and more than 40.000 km of seismic lines have been acquired.
Ruden AS is currently assessing the potential for deep groundwater in Somalia on a national scale, funded by the Norwegian ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hydrological and geological data is being used in a systematic way to estimate water budgets at a fine resolution. At the same time, data that was previously acquired by the oil industry is being analyzed allowing for freshwater identification at depths deeper than 400 m.
