India Agrees to Enhance Cooperation with Tanzania in Natural Gas Space

India has agreed to enhance cooperation with Tanzania in the natural gas sector as New Delhi wants to make east Africa one of its major energy sources.

Countries on Africa’s east coast primarily Mozambique and Tanzania have seen massive gas discoveries in recent years.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya from July 7-11. “We agreed that our common desire of economic prosperity for our societies is creating new opportunities for expanding our cooperation,” Modi said on Sunday in a joint press statement with Tanzanian President John Magufuli in the Tanzanian capital.

With the slowdown in China that has resulted in the reduction of energy and raw material imports, the African continent is looking at India to buttress its export revenues. Indian state owned energy firms already own significant stakes in Mozambican gas fields. ONGC Videsh (OVL) along with Oil India bought 10 per cent stake in Mozambique Area 1 gas asset from Videocon Industries for $2.48 billion in June 2014. OVL acquired another 10 per cent stake in the field from Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $2.64 billion. Another state owned firm BPCL also holds 10 percent stake in an offshore gas asset.

With India's domestic gas consumption projected to see robust growth, Tanzania offers attractive opportunities for Indian energy companies.