A lot has
been alleged concerning the gas matter in Mtwara something which led me to ask
myself is it a curse or blessing that we have finally found what God has
blessed the land of Tanzania with.
Mtwara region did not have great attention
from the media and was regarded as sleeping giant
multinational corporations or the Tanzania government until the discovery of
oil and gas something which grasps attention of the whole world.
Tanzania
has, for decades been involved in extractive industries exploration,
development and production. The country has excellent opportunities for oil and
gas exploration and development in the ‘unexplored’ but highly potential
sedimentary basins.
I have realised
that it is important that Tanzanians are aware of the main players in the oil
and gas industry in the country. It is feared though, that lack of information,
together with weak public knowledge about the institutions involved, may cause complications
for public access to oil and gas appropriate information.
As it seems
like at the first place there were conflict of interest which led to riots
and the community at large was not having a good knowledge about gas which I
believe up-to-date though the government through Ministry of Energy and
minerals has sent some community members to Thailand for training concerning
the gas issue still some people are not pleased.
Lessening
information gap in the oil and/or gas industries is vital for reinforcing
transparency and accountability along the value chain of the duo extractive
industries in Tanzania, especially now when the country is the ExtractiveIndustries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
implementing country.
The
Msimbati Bay is potential for natural gas where large deposits have been
discovered. Exploitation programmes are yet to be concluded and this could
yield the region and neighbours with an abundant alternative source of domestic
energy.
Since 2005,
however, and especially in the last couple of years, far more interest has been
paid to the region in light of massive offshore natural gas discoveries. Now
more than ever, southern Tanzania (and particularly Mtwara town) is in the
process of being dragged into the global capitalist economy – notwithstanding
the infamous Groundnut Scheme.
These
opposition parties are gaining traction in calling for greater transparency
over the contracts that the government has signed with natural resource
extraction companies. There are further demands for the publication of all of
the contracts signed with foreign governments, especially regarding the
construction of the pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam that is to be funded
with a discounted loan from the Chinese government.
Failure to
manage expectations surrounding the natural resource discoveries coupled with
an existing perception of a ‘hidden agenda’ against Mtwara. Whether such an
agenda exists is secondary to the perception it does, and this should have been
considered in all dealings. The most sceptical analysis might point to the
failure to learn key lessons from the Niger Delta in spite of a rhetorical
claim to have done so.
However,
this seems to believe the fact that the companies working on gas extraction in
Mtwara are predominantly from Europe and North America such as BG Group (UK),
Statoil (Norway), ExxonMobil (US), Ophir (UK). Brazilian company Petrobras – an
increasingly significant global actor – is also involved, while the only major
and publicised Chinese involvement is the aforementioned low cost loan for the
construction of the controversial pipeline.
Spreading such thinly-veiled
rumours is perhaps a diversionary tactic to absolve the Tanzanian government of
the burden of responsibility, which would make sense in light of how excessive
the response of the police and the army seems to have been.
Tanzania is
endowed with diverse energy sources including biomass, natural gas, hydropower,
coal, geothermal, solar and wind power, much of which is untapped. Wood-fuel
accounts for up to 90% of total energy supply with about 2% from
hydro-electricity and 7% from oil-derived products and 1% from other sources.
Nonetheless the downstream oil industry is an important sector of the country's
economy absorbing on average 55% of the country's foreign exchange earnings.
Government
policies are directed at petroleum product substitution by exploiting
indigenous resources. In the upstream oil industry, oil and gas exploration and
production is also being encouraged. Extensive gas fields have been identified
off the coast at Songo Songo and Mnazi Bay which are currently under
production, and the just discovered gas fields off Mafia Island shores that are
being developed.
Current
natural gas resources are estimated to be 40 trillion cubic feet (tcf), which
is quite substantial. At present, most of the gas produced from these fields is
used in power generation. However, natural gas can be a raw material for a
multitude of more valuable petrochemical industries.
The human
resource is certainly the most important factor of production because it is
capable of transforming all the other factors for the betterment of human life
and human welfare. Developing and utilising this resource effectively increases
its productivity and its capital value. Thus, human resources development must
be one of the leading objectives on the nation's development agenda.
Given
significant discoveries of natural gas, there is apparent demand for petroleum
and petrochemical engineers. There is a need to exposing this potential and
disseminate the status of the industry particularly its potential contribution
to the development of Tanzania.
speaking about potential benefits to Tanzania only 0.3 per
cent of the total sales on gas would be retained to run various social and
economic activities for the people of Mtwara and Lindi regions.
Other
benefits are construction of fertilizer and cement industries. America’s
Symbion company branch would be set up in Mtwara Municipality for the
generation of 400 Mw of electricity.
Additionally,
a transmission line of KV 220 would be constructed from Mtwara to Songea by the
US Schlumberger company based in Houston, which is currently constructing a big
equipment workshop for gas and oil extraction.