Tanzania is seeking to compete with multinationals in exploration for oil and gas, with a pledge to license its petroleum development corporation to enable it to undertake the task.

The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) says it is enhancing the capacity of staff in preparation as it awaits a licence from the government.

“We are talking to the government so that we can be allocated areas for the undertaking. Just like the other investors in the sector, we are also required to obtain a licence because we are supposed to be regulated by the government,” said TPDC manager for exploration Kelvin Komba. The corporation is also seeking partnerships for financing and technical support.

“We are open to going into partnership because many international companies have shown interest in working with us once we get the licence.

With a partner, we can build our capacity, skills base, confidence and capital so that after, say, 10 years, we should be able to stand on our own, which would be more beneficial to the country,” said Mr Komba.

In the envisaged entry, TPDC will be given exploration areas that it will use as equity to enter into production sharing agreements with foreign companies who have the financial muscle for the capital-intensive undertaking.

The National Social Security Fund recently expressed interest in entering the extraction sector through the purchase of shares in Pan African Energy, a gas exploration company owned by Orca of Canada.

To mitigate potential conflicts of interest, the petroleum corporation will form a subsidiary company to go into partnership with foreign companies, leaving it as the sector overseer.

READ: Policy in the offing to regulate oil search in Tanzania

The plan has been well received by players in the sector, who say the move will boost the country’s economy.

Subiro Mwapinga, an independent oil and gas consultant, said that while the development would help the country derive more benefits from oil and gas, it would succeed only if the corporation did its homework properly.

“It needs the capacity to analyse and interpret data because this sector is mainly a contracting industry,” he said.

Furthermore, TPDC will need vast resources, including geo-physicists, geo-chemists and other experts, to succeed in the exploration business.

TPDC implements petroleum exploration and development policies on behalf of the government. It was established in 1969, and its primary role was to oversee the operations of the only concession holder, Agip of Italy, which later pulled out of the Tanzania petroleum business.

Following the discovery of the Songo Songo gas field, TPDC undertook the confirmation of the gas field and eventual appraisal.

It commissioned exploration activities in Tanzania’s deep-sea areas in 2000, attracting international companies such as BG Group, Statoil, Petrobras, Maurel & Prom, Petrodel, Heritage and Open Acreage.

Others are Exxon, Afren, Dodsal, Motherland, Songas, Ophir, Dominion, Ndovu, Aminex and Swala Energy, a joint venture between local and foreign investors.