BG Group is planning to invest up to $20billion in Tanzania, hunting for and bringing into production the African country’s expected bonanza of offshore gas reserves.
News of the planned investment emerged through the Dar es-Salaam newspaper Guardian.
BG’s chairman Robert Wilson was reported as having told Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete that his country should begin making preparations to enable its economy to absorb such a huge level of investment.
Wilson apparently said: “We are planning to invest between $10billion and $20billion during the second half of this decade in gas and in the Tanzanian economy.”
BG has made several large natural gas discoveries offshore Tanzania in its operated blocks 1, 3, and 4, namely the Chaza-1 discovery on block 1 and the Pweza-1 and Chewa-1 finds on block 4. These blocks are held in joint venture with Ophir Energy, which is the minority partner with 40%.
All three discovery wells were drilled by the deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig Deepwater Stavanger. As a result of the multiple successes, Tanzania’s gas reserves are estimated to be more than 10trillion cu.ft.
According to the paper, Wilson also said that the company spent $500million on gas exploration in Tanzania last year and will invest about the same amount this year.
For its part, Ophir completed its takeover of Dominion Petroleum on February 1 as a key element of its plan to strengthen its presence in Africa.