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DAR ES SALAAM. — The Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) on Monday appealed to the government to make a final decision on indicative prices for natural gas, a move it said will stimulate the country’s industrialisation drive.
“It is high time the indicative prices were known so that some stalled projects could get going,” Godfrey Simbeye, TPSF Executive Director, told journalists on the sidelines of the ongoing Tanzania Oil and Gas congress in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Simbeye said any further delays in releasing indicative prices of natural gas will derail efforts of investors determined to use natural gas, which was a key component in the production of fertiliser and in the implementation of various other economic activities.
“We understand that the government has formed committees to work on the matter but we are worried of the delay,” said Simbeye.
For almost five years now, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and fertiliser manufacturers have differed on the price of natural gas.
“It is now five years down the line and there has been no breakthrough,” said Simbeye, adding: “We as private sector players are endlessly asked by investors on the government’s official stand on this and when we follow up we get the same answers. It is high time we decided.”
In 2016, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority proposed an indicative price of US$2.60 per unit of natural gas to factories using natural gas.
According to Simbeye, 39 industries have been connected to natural gas so far but this was not enough as stakeholders were in urgent need of the indicative prices.
Tanzania’s natural gas reserves currently stand at about 57.25 trillion cubic feet. The nation is also finalising plans to set up a liquefied natural gas processing plant in Lindi region, located in southern part of the country. – Xinhua
Online Reporter