Orca eyes output boosts in Tanzania News wires Toronto-listed Orca Exploration plans to more than double its daily gas output capacity at the Songo Songo field in Tanzania to 200 million cubic feet within three years, the head of the company said on today.
Orca chief executive Peter Clutterbuck said production capacity was currently limited to 90 million cubic feet per day.
He said the company was supplying energy for up to 70% of Tanzania's power needs, feeding some of the country's power plants and major industrial users.
"To 200 MMcfd capacity...it will take about three years; we can do 140 MMcfd within two years from now," he told Reuters on the sidelines of an African oil conference.
The company had earlier estimated it would reach the daily capacity of 140 MMcfd by the middle of next year, but decided to postpone the expansion slightly in light of slower demand growth on the back of the economic slowdown.
"As the demand build-up fell slightly behind schedule, the supply would follow that," he said.
Clutterbuck estimates Songo Songo's proven and probable gas deposits at 900 Bcf.
The company plans to further explore for reserves in the area just a few kilometres west of the main Songo Songo field.
"The number for resources at Songo Songo West is 450 Bcf ... we plan to drill there 18 months to two years from now," he said, adding that production there was some five years away.
Clutterbuck said gas has proven a very reliable power source for the eastern African country which has previously suffered from major power cuts when its hydro power supply was hit by stretched periods of draught.
He said in an earlier presentation that Orca was also eyeing exports of its gas to neighbouring Kenya and eventually also to Zambia, to help supply the southern parts of Africa via the Southern Africa Power Pool.
Orca operates the Tanzanian project via its wholly-owned subsidiary PanAfrican Energy and in cooperation with power company Songas, a consortium including state-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and Bermuda-based Globeleq.
Songo Songo had been pumping gas since 2004. Tanzania is expected to save billions of dollars in the next 20 years using natural gas instead of oil imports.
KEY Price at posting:
10.8¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
