Residents in Coast region to benefi from natural gas drilling 

The company which is a subsidiary of Dodsal Group—a 75 year old conglomerate implements the project in collaboration with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).

Dr Rajen Kilachand, Chairman and owner of the Ruvu block said today that all is set to commence operations.

He said they are only waiting for a licence from the Ministry of Energy to proceed with tender announcement and commence operations. He said the company has so far invested over $200 million and that funds would be injected when operations began.

Dr Kilichand added that the firm discovered a potential lean gas of 3.1 to 3.9 trillion cubic feet over an area of 4,000 square kilometres in the Ruvu block. He said the exploration work was done by BGP from China and processed by Rose and Associates from Houston from the United States of America.

“Our activities started back in 2007; research was conducted by a local company—Africa Geophysical Services (AGS). Over 150 people have so far benefitted from our research and exploration activities,” he remarked.

“We will announce a tender for drilling as soon as the ministry grants us the licence. Our operations will benefit hundreds of people in the Coastal Region. We will provide jobs to more than 100 people,” said Dr Kilichand.

He said a number of projects will be implemented under the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy. He said the company plans to construct water wells, roads as well as dispensaries.

Apart from exploration and production of oil and gas, the conglomerate engages in gold mining in Itigi, Singida Region. He said the gold mine in Itingi has been assessed as having a potential of about 100,000 ounces, for which production will start before the end of 2023.

In the engineering, procurement and construction in the energy sector, the firm has in the past 10 years, conducted various activities including pioneering carbon capture technology project for the first solar power station in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which included design, engineering, installation and commissioning for Masdar in Abu Dhabi.

It also constructed 40 nuclear, thermal and gas power stations, 5 Liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, 23,000 kilometres of cross-country pipelines for liquids and minerals such as iron ore, 100 kilometres of four-line highways, 80 kilometres of 75 meters wide cross country irrigation canals and waterways.