Energy giants Statoil and Exxon target East African gas
23 March 2012
BBC News - March 19, 2012
Excerpts:
Statoil and its American partner Exxon Mobil have made the biggest offshore discovery yet of gas reserves off the coast of Tanzania.
The Zafarani field, which both companies hope will be bigger than first estimates suggest, is close to the region off the coast of Mozambique, where even bigger deposits of gas are being developed by Anadarko and ENI.
Developing infrastructure
The energy companies will have to develop infrastructure, from pipelines to terminals for ships, to push their operations forward, Mr Chissano reasons.
This work alone will create plenty of jobs in Mozambique.
"Even if they did discover more gas, what they have discovered now is already very good for the long-term development of Mozambique," he says.
"And if you couple this with the mineral resources like coal, where we are certain of huge quantities also, this is causing the need to develop more infrastructure like railways and roads and power lines."