Tanzania awards Ntorya development licence to Ruvuma JV
Oman’s ARA Petroleum said May 24 the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy had awarded a 25-year development licence covering the Ntorya gas discovery to the Ruvuma joint venture, which is operated by ARA Petroleum Tanzania Limited (ATP).
The award of the development licence allows APT to proceed with Tanzania’s largest onshore gas development with the goal of producing gas for the growing domestic market in the next year.
“We are delighted to receive this licence from the Ministry of Energy and thank all the Tanzanian agencies involved in achieving this major milestone,” APT General Manager Erhan Saygi said. “We are ready to launch work immediately to bring this onshore development project into production.”
APT’s field development plan includes converting an existing well into a production well, building in-field gas processing facilities and contracting a rig operator to drill a third well to further appraise the Ntorya discovery.
APT expects to produce 40mn ft3/day of natural gas in the first year of production, increasing that to 140mn ft3/day within a few years, according to a gas sales agreement signed in January with the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation.
APT believes the production potential for Ntorya is considerably higher following a 338-km2 3D seismic programme over the Ruvuma JV area. Based on that data, APT considers the area holds contingent resource of 3.45 trillion ft3 of gas in place initially (GIIP), a mean unrisked GIIP potential of 16.4 trillion ft3 and a risked mean potential of 6.9 trillion ft3 for the wider Ruvuma area.
Based on the wider potential, the development licence divides the original Mtwara exploration licence into nine blocks, five blocks containing the Ntorya discovery and four blocks the energy ministry labels as “adjoining blocks”.
The Ruvuma JV partners are required to undertake geological, geophysical and geochemical studies in the area and drill at least one additional exploration well within five years while spending a minimum of $10mn.
“We are excited about further exploration and appraisal work in this area as we consider it to hold truly enormous volumes of gas,” Saygi said. “We believe the Ntorya gas field and wider area could be game-changing for Tanzania’s efforts to alleviate energy poverty, spur further economic development and potentially transform the country into a regional energy hub.”