Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar will no longer oversee the oil and gas sector together following the oil and gas union matter which was overseen by the United Republic of Tanzania.
Zanzibar received its oil and gas data from Tanzania Mainland, allowing the Indian Ocean archipelago to go ahead with the search for exploration investors independently.
“We are now going ahead to drill oil in Zanzibar because all signs are there,” Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi said.
The data received by Zanzibar were important in the exploration of oil and gas as they give investors a picture of the area and the kind of technology and investment needed.
Meanwhile, since the start of oil and gas exploration in Tanzania, a total of 96 wells have been drilled so far and 44 of them turned successful with natural gas worth 57.4 trillion cubic feet.
The wells include two drilled in the Zanzibar-Pemba block which Dr Mwinyi said contain 3.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
According to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), oil and gas exploration activities in the country began in 1952 when British Petroleum (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell launched an oil exploration in all the coastal areas.
From that period to date, a total of 96 wells have been drilled, while 44 of them were discovered to have gas and 52 wells had no gas.
