Approximately 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas discovered in Mnazi Bay, Tanzania

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 27, Tanzanian Minister of Energy Juma Homera announced that approximately 223 billion cubic feet of natural gas, equivalent to about 6.3 billion cubic meters, had been discovered in the Mnazi Bay block in the Mtwara region of southern Tanzania. This is Tanzania's first new natural gas discovery announced in more than a decade. The gas reservoir was jointly explored by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and French oil and gas company Maurel & Prom, and was confirmed during drilling of the Kasa-1X ST2 well.

The Kasa-1X well began drilling in June 2026 using onshore drilling methods, with the target reservoir located beneath offshore waters approximately 4.5 kilometers from the coast at a water depth of about 400 meters. After natural gas was discovered in the initial well section, the operations team continued with sidetracking, penetrating 588 meters of reservoir. In its October 22 operational update, Maurel & Prom estimated that the discovery corresponds to total natural gas volumes of approximately 200 billion cubic feet, of which approximately 120 billion cubic feet is attributable to the company's 60% working interest.

The current drilling campaign in the Mnazi Bay block also includes the MB-5 and MS-2 wells. Both wells were completed and brought into production in the first half of 2026, raising the block's current total natural gas production to approximately 130 million cubic feet per day, with the combined potential capacity of existing producing wells approaching 200 million cubic feet per day. The block's natural gas processing facility has completed testing of a processing capacity of 150 million cubic feet per day.

Maurel & Prom plans to commence natural gas production from the Kasa-1X well as early as November 2026, with the discovery expected to have a total gas production potential of 50 million cubic feet per day. The Tanzanian government is also in discussions with four investors regarding small-scale liquefied natural gas projects.