Oil and Gas Fields in Tanzania

=Introduction= The gas fields that are ready for production in Tanzania are the Songo-Songo, Mnazi Bay and Msimbati-1 as well as the Kiliwani North (KN-1) fields. The Songo-Songo field is operated by Orca Exploration under a Production Sharing Agreements (PSA) with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and is Tanzania’s first natural gas development project. It covers an area of 170 km2 around 15 kilometres offshore. The field is located near Songo-Songo Island and has about 879 BCF gross resources in place. A total of 667 BCF have been discovered so far at Mnazi Bay gas field, on- and offshore Tanzania’s coastline. Discovered initially by ENI in 1981, after the company drilled an offshore well, Wentworth Resources discovered the Msimbati-1 gas field in 2005. Four wells are ready for production. The first gas is expected to be delivered by early 2015. At the moment, the 756 km2 area is operated by Maurel et Prom. Ndovu (Aminex), the operator of the Kiliwani-North field estimates 45 BCF to be in place. The field is ready to produce and is awaiting the completion of a pipeline and processing facility.

=Offshore Exploration= Four of the eight currently operated offshore blocks received new bids in the latest biding round that ended in May 2014. First-time bidders for a Tanzanian offshore block included Russia’s Gazprom and the Chinese offshore-producer CNOOC Ltd. The BG Group and its partner Ophir Energy did not submit a new bid in the round. BG has been operating blocks 1, 3 and 4 since 2010 and has made ten gas discoveries in the area thus far, with 15 TCF estimated to be in-place. In 2013, Pavilion Energy acquired 20 percent interest in blocks 1, 3 and 4 and in late 2014 BG withdrew from Block 3. Its partners continue with the exploration.

Ophir Energy, with a 20 percent non-operated interest in the blocks, took over Dominion Petroleum in February 2012 and so gained the company’s 80 percent asset in Block 7. Ophir Energy has not found any movable hydrocarbon in Block 7 thus far. Petrobras entered into a PSA with the TPDC for Block 5 in 2004, and in 2011 signed a farm out agreement with Shell Deepwater Tanzania BV, which acquired a 50 percent interest. The Zeta-1 well drilled the same year was unsuccessful.

In 2006, Petrobras signed a PSA with the TPDC for Block 6, covering 5549 km2 in the Mafia Basin. In 2013, Statoil acquired a 12 percent interest in the block from Petrobras. Since 2007, Statoil has been operating in the 5,500 km2 sized Block 2. The company, in partnership with ExxonMobil, has made six gas discoveries so far in this block. The discoveries, four of which were made in the 2012/13 period, another two in 2014 confirmed the presence of around 21 TCF of in-place gas. Furthermore, a mean of 5.7 TCF is estimated to be located in the Nyuni licence area (1,689 km2) operated by Ndovu (Aminex) with a 70 percent stake. Aminex Operations Tanzania

=Onshore Exploration= Onshore Exploration activities in Tanzania focus on areas that form parts of, or border the East African Rift System (EARS). Two billion barrels of oil were previously discovered in the Ugandan Lake Albert Basin. Since November 2011, Heritage Oil has been carrying out explorations on the 8,745 km2 Rukwa South area. Since January 2012, it also acquired the 1,934 km2 Kyela licence. Drilling operations were set to start in 2014/15 with both areas sharing geological similarities with the hydrocarbon profile of the Lake Albert Basin. Both of Swala-Energies licences are part of the EARS, the Kilosa-Kilombero area (17,675 km2) which is analogous to an area where the company previously found oil, and the Pangani licence, a 17,156 km2 large area on the Pangani Rift.

At the moment, Jacka Resources awaits ministerial PSA approval to explore the 8,400 km2 Ruhuhu Basin which borders the Lake Malawi Basin to the west, itself a part of the EARS. The company planned to drill an explanatory well in 2014. Lake Tanganyika lies on the western arm of the EARS. In 2010, Beach Energy and the TPDC signed a PSA for the Lake Tanganyika South Block. Data dating back to the 1980s suggest the potential for a petroleum system beneath the lake. Ras-Al-Kaimah submitted a bid for the Lake Tanganyika North Block (9,670.2 km2) in the latest bidding round. Several onshore licence areas are still open acreage, as the Lake Eyasi licence for which French Total showed interest in 2014.

The Ntorya-1 Well drilled in the Ndovu (Aminex) operated Ruvuma licence (3,447 km2) has led to the discovery of about 1.9 TCF. Aimed at exploring the oil potential of the Ruvuma-Basin, the Likonde-1 well was a technical success but a commercial failure.

=On- and off-shore Exploration= No movable hydrocarbon has yet been found in the East-Pande licence area operated by Ophir Energy, which partners with Ras-Al-Kaimah. Ophir Energy The Bigwa, Rufiji-Mafia concession is operated by Maurel et Prom. A seismic survey found some gas but not in commercial quantities.

=References=