Overview: Oil and Gas Infrastructure in Tanzania

=Pipelines=

SongoSongo - Somanga Funga-Dar es Salaam
In October 1995, Ocelot Tanzania Inc. and TransCanada Pipeline Limited (TCPL Tanzania Inc.), in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) and  Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), created  SONGAS Limited. SONGAS Ltd has developed the SongoSongo gas field in Kilwa District, Lindi Region, by constructing gas processing facilities on SongoSongo Island and a pipeline to transport the natural gas to Dar es Salaam where it is used as a feedstock for five gas turbine electricity generators. The two (2) processing plants at SongoSongo with a capacity of 35 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) are owned by the Government of Tanzania. Processed gas is transported through a 25km, 12-inch pipeline from SongoSongo to Somanga Funga, and from Somanga Funga through a 207km 16-inch pipeline to Ubungo, Dar es Salaam. Construction of the pipeline commenced in 2003 and was completed in May 2004. The first gas supply reached Dar es Salaam in July 2004. Commercial operations of the project began in earnest in July 2004.

Mtwara-Dar es Salaam
The $1.225 billion project is being undertaken by the China National Petroleum Corporation. It is being financed through a loan from China’s Exim Bank and is expected to be completed in 2015. It has an initial capacity of 350 MMCFD, with the numbers doubling at optimal production to 750 MMCGD of gas. The project involves the construction of a 24 - 36 inch diameter pipeline from Mnazi Bay in Mtwara to be connected at Somanga Funga with gas from the SongoSongo in Lindi region, and then transported onto Dar es Salaam via pipeline. Two gas processing plants at Madimba and Somanga Funga are concurrently being constructed by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) and the projects are expected to be commissioned by the end of 2014. The existing 16-inch pipeline between Somanga Funga and Dar es Salaam is being expanded to 36 inches. It will have the capacity to transport 210 MMCFD, up from the current 105 MMCFD. The existing 16 inch natural gas pipeline from SongoSongo to Dar es Salaam, owned by SONGAS Ltd, has been facing capacity constraints amidst growing demand for gas and energy.

Potential and planned extensions
With the intention of increasing trade, the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments wish to construct a 530km long natural gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Tanga in Tanzania and Mombasa in Kenya. The proposed gas pipeline would include gas skid supply terminals in Tanga and Mombasa. The East African Community (EAC) commissioned COWI in partnership with Runji and Partners to undertake feasibility study of the pipeline.

=LNG Facilities= Statoil and BG group are in preliminary discussions to set up a two-train LNG facility at an estimated cost of $14billion. Their joint operation could become the first in the country that so far has recoverable natural gas estimates of more than 50tcf. Although an exact timeline and site to build the LNG facility is not yet clear, some analysts estimated a period of seven years.

=Power Plants=

Mtwara
US-based energy company, Symbion Power, TANESCO and General Electric International struck a deal in 2013 to develop a 600MW gas-fired power plant in Mtwara to power the Southern regions of Tanzania.

=References=