Stakeholders to discuss Gas utilisation master plan

STAKEHOLDERS in the hydrocarbons industry are in the final stages airing their views on National Gas Utilization Master Plan (NGUMP) before government’s releases it for public discussion. Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Prof James Mdoe, SAID ON Wednesday this week in Dar es Salaam that the document has been in preparation since 2010. “At the moment we are finalising NGUMP, which aims at providing clear guidelines on the utilisation of the discovered natural gas,” he said. He said the meeting was crucial as it brought together stakeholders in the industry to air their views on the NGUMP draft for further improvement. The intention of the government, he said, was to ensure Tanzanians benefit from the natural resource whether directly or indirectly. NGUMP is a strategic document promoting inter-sectoral coordination in the design and implementation of the natural gas development activities. The government envisages coordinated utilization of gas on the basis of NGUMP while detailed technical and economic analysis should guide selection of the best project for implementation that will address mutual interest of the investors. Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Acting Managing Director, Kapuulya Musomba, said the objectives of NGUMP include identifying current and future demand and supply of natural gas for local and foreign markets. “As it is a 30-year action plan, it also aims to set up a framework for development of infrastructure to supply the market and to set financing strategy for gas utilization projects,” he said. NGUMP proposes that natural gas will be utilised for cooking and cooling in the households. In forecasting households demand natural gas, an assumption is made that a typical household will demand 35.5 scfd for cooking. Musomba said the master plan was an integral part of the strategy for the implementation of National Energy Policy of 2015 regarding the utilization of the resource, the improvement of infrastructures and human capital development in the country. According to National Bureau of Statistics, it is assumed that from 2016-2045 the population will on average be growing at 1.95 per cent per annum. It is further assumed that ten per cent of households in the country will be supplied with natural gas for cooking by 2045. Over the past two years, Tanzania has discovered 50.5-trillion cubic feet of gas, of which roughly 45-trillion is offshore. This includes the nearly three trillion discovered in June by Statoil and its partner, Exxon- Mobil.