Minister’s Announcement - Zanzibar 1st Licensing Round
ANNOUNCEMENT
Zanzibar City, 17 March 2024
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank Almighty God, the Compassionate for blessing us with good health and ability to meet on this morning for the purpose of giving you updates on the status of the upstream petroleum sector in Zanzibar. I would like to take this opportunity to convey my gratitude to His Excellency, the President of Zanzibar and the Chairman of Revolutionary Council Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi for his efforts and directives that led to the development of this sector.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On 31st July 2023, the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries announced the opening of the new areas for exploration of petroleum located on the offshore Zanzibar. On that particular occasion, you were updated on the status of the analysis of the data received from the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania. It was revealed that the process was complete and a total of eight (8) offshore blocks have been demarcated for promotion. That development could not have been realized without concerted efforts of our two leaders: H.E. Dr. Samia SuluhuHassan and H.E. Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to convey our deep gratitude to our leaders for their cooperation and vision that led to successful transfer of data to the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar for the benefit of all Tanzanians.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In order to attract the upstream investment in Zanzibar, the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar has passed the Miscellaneous Amendment of the Oil and Gas Act (2016) and the review of the Model Production Sharing Agreement (2017) in order to improve the terms and conditions for the investment. At the moment, Zanzibar has passed a second generation Model Production Sharing Agreement (2024) that will attract foreign investment and geared towards strengthening the Zanzibar economy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Following all of the above, I am not delighted to announce to the public that the preparations for the launching of the Zanzibar 1st Licensing Round are complete and that Zanzibar is ready to embark on the promotion of the eight 8 offshore blocks mentioned before. The official launching ceremony of the Licensing Round will be on 20th March 2024 from 8:30am at the Golden Tulip Hotel – Airport. The inauguration of the Licensing Round will be done by H.E. the President of Zanzibar and the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate H.E. the President of Zanzibar and the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi for this historic and monumental milestone in the upstream oil and gas sector. The launching of the Zanzibar 1stLicensing Round will lead to further diversification of the Zanzibar economy and cement Zanzibar position as a new oil and gas province of the world. This milestone would have been impossible without his astute leadership, vision and inspiration.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to invite and encourage the exploration and production oil and gas companies to take advantage of this opportunity and participate in the licensing round. On behalf of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, I ensure them that the environment for investment in Zanzibar is attractive and competitive with proven track record of stability and good governance. We look forward to cooperate with all investors for mutual benefit of everyone.
Thank you for your kind attention.
