According to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) the country is expected to start commercializing gas products in 2020.
The announcement was made by Dr Emma Msaky, acting Director of Exploration and Production of TPDC during the 3rd East Africa Oil and Gas Summit that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on March 27th and 28th 2014.
Msaky also added that once the commercialization starts, she expects the government to consider the national market before exports.
The timeframe is due to the fact that gas reserves are mostly found offshore, between 1,500 and 2,700m deep waters.
Over the past two years, exploration activities in Tanzania’s deep offshore waters led to the discovery of 45 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, and more is to come as drilling campaigns continue to unfold.