14 February 2014, Dar es Salaam – Tanzania has so far not proven oil reserves within its boundaries, it has been confirmed.
Addressing a Press conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) Managing Director Mr Yona Killagane said that some media organizations have been publishing misleading information related to oil discoveries, especially in Kilimanjaro, Morogoro and Tanga regions.
“What is happening currently is an initial seismic study that has not shown that we have discovered oil.
There is no company that has uncovered oil reserves so far, but initial studies are being done to establish whether we have oil,” said Mr Killagane.
He mentioned some companies which are engaged in oil exploration surveys in the country as Swala Energy that is working in Kilimanjaro and Kilosa-Kilombero areas, and AFREN company which is currently doing explorations in Tanga region.
According to Mr Killagane, there is no oil well that has already been dug in the mentioned areas. What is happening are some preliminary study to establish whether the areas have the required thickness that normally preserve gas or oil.
In May last year, Swala Energy announced that its 65 per cent owned subsidiary, Swala Oil and Gas (Tanzania) Limited (SOGTL) had awarded 2D seismic acquisition contract to Polaris International, a company with experience of conducting operations in Kilimanjaro and Morogoro regions.
SOGTL, together with its joint venture partner Otto Energy is in the second contract year of the exploration work programme for the Pangani and Kilosa-Kilombero Licence Areas.
The major part of that work programme comprises acquisition of 300km 2D seismic in Kilosa-Kilombero and 200km in Pangani.
The airborne gravity-magnetic surveys conducted last year demonstrated the potential for three significant sedimentary basins in Kilosa-Kilombero and two further basins in Pangani.
This step made the company to focus its new 2013 seismic programme on these prospective basin areas.
The acquired seismic data allowed the joint venture partners to map important structural trends and understand the thickness and volume of depositional fill in the prospective basins.
