With estimated recoverable gas resources of around 57 trillion cubic feet (tcf), Tanzania will feature as part of an East African regional spotlight at Invest in African Energy (IAE) 2024 as the country seeks partners across various exploration, development, and processing activities.
Since discovering large volumes of offshore gas, Tanzania has initiated plans to become a major LNG exporter. The country’s flagship Tanzania LNG project, set to process gas from fields operated by Equinor, Shell, and ExxonMobil, producing 10 million metric tonnes per year, is awaiting the signing of a host government agreement that would enable the start of development. Shell’s Blocks 1 and 4 have an estimated 16 tcf of gas in place, while Equinor’s Block 2 has yielded nine discoveries with more than 20 tcf of estimated reserves. Last November, the governments of Tanzania and Uganda signed an agreement to undertake a feasibility study for the construction of a pipeline linking Tazania’s gas fields to Uganda.
Tanzania has emerged as a regional leader in LPG distribution, owing to its strategic location on the Indian Ocean and flagship Kigamboni LPG Terminal, which imports LPG from the Middle East and delivers it by truck to the wider region. Tanzania’s Taifa Gas is currently leading the construction of a $100 million LPG facility in northern Zambia, in partnership with Zambia’s Delta Marimba. Last November, the country also launched its first compressed natural gas filling station and conversion centre in Dar es Salaam, developed by TAQA Dalbit, a joint venture between TAQA Arabia and JCG Oil & Gas.
Tanzania is expected to launch its fifth oil and gas licensing round by June 2024, with licenses to be awarded by December of the same year. While the details have yet to be disclosed, 26 oil and gas blocks have been initially allocated for tender, including 15 onshore and 11 offshore blocks. Representing the country’s first bid round in over a decade, the licencing round aims to accelerate foreign investment in the country’s upstream sector and showcase its highly prospective acreage. So far, Chinese national oil company CNOOC is leading exploration in the country in collaboration with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and is conducting seismic surveys in deepwater blocks located near gas discoveries made by Shell, Equinor, and ExxonMobil.
