Entrepreneurship in Oil and Gas: Two Ways to Join the Industry

I want to say our people (Tanzanians and East Africans) are backbenchers because of lack of information.

There is a lot happening in the oil and gas industry, but most people have no clue as to opportunities out there.

The myth that you need to be an expert or a wealthy person to participate in the oil and gas business has limited our progress in this industry. So, we just sit back and watch others play the game.

Most people will make you believe that participating in the oil and gas industry is hard or impossible.

A look into the industry reveals that there is opportunity for almost everyone. But deciding where to invest and the capital requirements depends on your mode of entry.

For example, a person who enters the market as an “agent” does not need any real assets to operate. But an entrepreneur, who needs to invest in infrastructures such as LPG plant or oil storage depot, strategically needs to consider buying equipment such as trucks or tanks and to meet environment compliance before starting.

Also, locating your small petrol station in rural areas and small towns is cheaper and less to maintain than building a petrol station in urban areas and major cities.

In addition, an entrepreneur looking to invest in engineering and construction project in oil and gas needs to have more specialized knowledge and expertise.

But there are areas that require low level of expertise which everyone can venture into. For example, investing in providing catering, logistic and transportation services to oil companies and their prime contractors, etc.

The simple truth is that the recent Covid-19 pandemic has reshape our thinking as entrepreneurs on the role we can play in our businesses.

The pandemic has taught us that we need to invest in business that thrive even in a bad economy.

We need to market products and services that people can’t live without. When you are in the oil and gas business, you are selling necessity and people must buy these products even when times are tough.

If your current business doesn’t generate consistent cash flow and you still have the passion to try something new, when done right, operating business in the oil and gas sector can be a lucrative and a reliable source of income.

Two Way to Join the Oil and Gas Business

The population of this country is growing  and the its economy is also growing. So, the demand for oil and gas are immense.

If you are considering to serve the oil and gas industry as an entrepreneur, here are two possible ways to join the league:

1. Become an entrepreneur in the upstream sector.

For those of you who are not coming from the oil and gas background, the upstream sector is the segment of the oil and gas industry that involve finding, discovering and getting oil and gas resources out of the ground. You often hear people call it Exploration and Production.

Entrepreneurs in this part of the oil and gas industry provide supportive services, equipment, tools and materials to make these products available.

Following massive discovery of natural gas in offshore Tanzania and 1445 kilometer pipeline construction from Ugandan to Tanzania, investing in providing supportive services and goods in these projects can be lucrative.

2. Become an entrepreneur in the downstream sector.

The downstream sector is the segment of the of the oil and gas industry dealing with importing  storage, distribution and marketing of the oil and gas related products such as diesel, petrol, LP Gas, natural gas, lubricants, CNG etc.

 

 

I hope this help.

Here at Tanzania Petroleum, our goal is to help people and companies of all professions and size enter the oil and gas industry faster and with fewer hassles so that they can increase income and maximize impact.