TPDC Should Dominate Tanzania's Oil, Gas Sector

Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) should be the dominant player in country’s oil and gas sector and the government should lay down clear strategies for such eventuality, Chairman of Chief Executive Officers Roundtable (CEOrt), Ali Mufuriki said.

Mufuriki said that while it is true that Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo's argument that there are no Tanzanian companies or individuals who can invest billions in exploration business, TPDC should be in a position to dominate the subsector in future, Tanzania Daily News reported.

Addressing delegates to Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) annual conference on Friday in Dar es Salaam, Mufuruki argued that the government should borrow a leaf from Norway and Malaysia where Statoil and Petronas are dominating their countries' oil and gas subsector other than foreign companies, the newspaper added.

"It is true that empowerment will not come by allocating oil and gas exploration blocks to Tanzanians who have capital not technology to do so but it is important to make sure that TPDC has a bigger stake in this sector," said Mufuruki who was a panelist during a plenary conference.