Gas Output at the Tanzania Mnazi Bay Project Dropped

Output of the Mnazi Bay gas project in southern Tanzania dropped last year as a result of weaker gas demand, Wentworth Resources, one of its developers, said in a statement on February 3.

The Mnazi Bay gas field, located in South-eastern Tanzania, started producing gas in 2015 and is being operated by Pertamina-owned Maurel & Prom partnered with Alberta-based Wentworth Resources. The state-owned oil company, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, has a stake in the field

A subsidiary of Indonesia’s Pertamina with a 48% stake, while Wentworth has almost 32% and Tanzania’s state-owned TPDC 20%. The asset produced 70.29mn ft3/day of gas in 2019, Wentworth said, down from 83.2mn ft3/day in the previous year.

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High rainfall during the year resulted in increased hydropower production in Tanzania, curtailing gas-fired generation, Wentworth said. The National Natural Gas Infrastructure (NNGI) pipeline also received more gas from an offshore Songo Songo field, curbing demand for Wentworth’s supplies.

One of the Mnazi Bay wells, MB-2, was temporarily shut-in. It restored flows on December 21 after flowline repairs, and other well, MB-4, has been recompleted, raising its output by 15mn ft3/day, Wentworth said.Mnazi Bay is expected to produce between 65-75mn ft3/day of gas in 2020, according to Wentworth. The project’s developers signed a gas supply agreement with TPDC in September last year for 80mn ft3/day of gas in 2020. The contract includes an 85% take-or-pay provision, meaning that TPDC will pay for at least 68mn ft3/day of gas, regardless of how much it wants.