TOP officials from the High Commission of India in Tanzania met and held talks with the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA)’s leadership to explore more information about the auctioning of petroleum exploration blocks in mainland Tanzania to be conducted later this year.

According to a statement availed to the media yesterday, the talks took place on Tuesday at the PURA offices in Dar es Salaam and attended by the Second Secretary to the High Commissioner (Commerce), Narender Kumar and the Acting Director General of PURA, Eng. Danstan Asanga alongside other officials.

Speaking during the meeting, Kumar explained that upon learning of the government’s plan to auction oil and gas blocks through the Ministry of Energy budget estimates speech for the year 2024/25, the Indian High Commission deemed it necessary to meet with the relevant authority to thoroughly understand the matter to provide comprehensive information to companies and stakeholders in India.

“We hope that companies from India will be interested in this information, which is why we have decided to seek further details that will enable them to make decisions to participate in the forthcoming bidding around and ultimately invest in oil and gas exploration and production activities in Tanzania,” Kumar added.

Providing details about the fifth licencing round, Eng. Asanga explained that PURA, on behalf of the government, has continued with preparations for the event and that several activities have been completed including the preparation of the Model Production Sharing Agreement, submitted to the Ministry of Energy for further action.

Other activities include the demarcation of the blocks to be auctioned after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Energy and the preparation of petroleum data packages.

Additionally, Eng. Asanga noted that a review of the Petroleum Act of 2015 is underway to identify sections requiring amendments and that PURA is participating in the review.

Regarding the timing of the bidding process, Eng. Asanga stated that the auctioning of blocks will take place shortly after the completion of preliminary preparations including the review of the Petroleum Act of 2015 and that government plans to launch the fifth licencing round this year.

In addition to discussing the fifth licencing around, The High Commission of India in Tanzania and PURA also explored the possibility of establishing cooperation between oil and gas exploration and production regulatory authorities in the two countries.

They also discussed the possibility of collaborating on capacity-building programmes for personnel in the field of oil and natural gas through funding from the Government of India.