Well-known Omani upstream energy firm ARA Petroleum has announced that its Tanzanian subsidiary has obtained the green-light to proceed with the development of the promising Ntorya gas discovery, an onshore field located in the south-east of East African country.

ARA Petroleum Tanzania (APT) was granted a 25-year development licence by the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy, paving the way for the commercialisation of the potentially prolific gas and condensate field, which is part of the wider Ruvuma JV area.

The licence will help unlock new gas volumes to power Tanzania’s energy-deficient economic growth, as well as strengthen the Omani E&P firm’s growing importance in the East African oil and gas industry.

Established in 2018 with an eye on the development of the Ntorya gasfield, ARA Petroleum Tanzania is presently the operator of the license with a 75% working interest. The balance 25% is held by Dublin-based Aminex Plc, an upstream oil and gas firm listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Ntorya gasfield, when commercialized, can be a game-changer for the Tanzanian economy. APT says the field is to host an unaudited Contingent Resource estimated at 3.45 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of Gas Initially In Place (GIIP), with an mean unrisked GIIP potential of 16.4 tcf and a risked mean potential of 6.9 tcf for the wider Ruvuma JV area.

According to JV partner Aminex, the Ntorya Development Licence area lies adjacent to a region containing supergiant world-class LNG projects, extending from offshore Tanzania into Mozambique waters to the south. The JV partners intend to produce Ntorya gas into the growing domestic gas market, helping to alleviate energy poverty and boost the energy transition in Tanzania. A multi-year gas sales agreement was signed earlier this year with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, it said in a statement.

In the Sultanate of Oman, parent company ARA Petroleum holds interests in three upstream assets: Block 31 and Block 44, and the Qarat Milh Small Fields (QSF) license.