NuEnergy Optimistic About African Shale Gas

Australia’s NuEnergy Gas is hoping to make significant shale gas discoveries in Africa in coming future.

The company is starting to search for shale gas in Malawi, has applied for permits in Tanzania and is looking to explore in Zambia, Mozambique and other eastern African nations, Chairman Graeme Robertson told Bloomberg in a phone interview.

Robertson said that the company is optimistic that it will find some good shale-gas resources in the region south of Sahara, Bloomberg reported.

In an attempt to become the first unconventional gas player in Malawi, last month NuEnergy commenced an airborne geophysical survey at its Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL 0360/2012) in the Chikhwawa District in southern part of the country.

This EPL for shale gas and Coal Bed Methane covers an area of 346km2 and is the first unconventional gas exploration license in the country, NuEnergy said in a statement.

NuEnergy also applied for two exploration permits in southwestern Tanzania, where there may be “large potential shale resources,” Bloomberg said.

The company envisions that East African shale reserves will be sent to micro-liquid-natural-gas plants to be used domestically as transport fuel rather than for export.