Posted on :Thursday , 20th August 2020

Oil and Gas exploration fields now have every reason to smile after the government trained more than 350 youth on the fields that have been discussed with International Accreditation Certificates that enable them to work anywhere in the world.

The training was taken place by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) in collaboration with the Vocational Educational and Training Authority (VETA) and International Oil Companies (IOC's) at a cost of US $ 4 million.

As per the Energy Ministry, the government through mentioned colleges has also been conducting trainings to qualified Tanzanians in the oil and gas fields, whereas a number of graduates and trainers have enhanced.

"All these are done to make sure the country has a good number of qualified personnel in the sector.

VETA has been held regular vocational trainings to youth in Lindi and Mtwara regions to enable them secure jobs at oil and gas exploration companies," the ministry stated in its written response to a question from Special Seats legislator, Shamsia Mtamba (CUF).

In her basic question, the MP requested the government to construct a technical college which will specifically offer courses and trainings on oil and gas, taking into consideration that most of the gas discoveries in Tanzania have been found in Mtwara and Lindi regions.

The ministry highlighted that apart from youth training, VETA, TPDC and IOC have been providing capacity building trainings to entrepreneurs on how to offer various services to people working on natural gas exploration projects.

Such trainings have so far benefitted more than 195 entrepreneurs in Lindi and Mtwara regions."TPDC has established 32 oil and gas clubs at different primary and secondary schools in the particular regions.

The move focuses to educate students on various matters related to the field as well as how oil and gas can economically help individuals and the nation," stated the ministry.

Statistics by the Energy Ministry indicates that until March 2020, Tanzania had 57.54 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves.

The natural gas reserves were explored at various gas exploration fields conducted in deep sea.The use of gas from natural gas fields in Mnazi Bay and Songo Songo Island started in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

TPDC has already supplied the energy through a network of pipelines to 72 houses at TPDC Estate and 24 housing units at Twiga Estate in Mikocheni. According to residents who use the energy, its price is 40 per cent cheaper than other sources of energy like charcoal and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).