Africa-Press – Tanzania. PANAFRICAN Energy Tanzania (PAET) said yesterday it will carry out 17 million US dollars work for three out of the eight wells currently drilled in the Songo Songo gas field in October.
The work, which will be carried out alongside the ongoing 38 million US dollars compression project PAET is installing at the Songas owned gas processing facility on Songo Songo Island.
PAET Managing Director Mr Andrew Hanna said the vital work over was important since centred on enhancing gas supply security for the country while ensuring the firm ability to meet demand increases when they arise.
“This work unlocks only part of the overall additional potential of the Songo Songo gas field,” Mr Hanna said in a release.
The PAET team is wellpositioned to continue supporting the country in the exploration and development of other parts of the field and producing additional gas resources in the future.
Mr Hanna said the workover came at the right time “as we approach the twentieth anniversary of the signing of our Production Sharing Agreement (PSA),” and demonstrates the continued commitment and cooperation.
The cooperation is between PAET and its partners – Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and Songas – to the highly successful Songo Songo gas project.
“It has taken a great deal of effort on the part of the brilliant PAET team, 99per cent of which is made up of Tanzanian nationals, to get to this point,” Mr Hanna said.
The statement said the two projects—the compression and workover—will restore and increase current gas production potential from the field while ensuring PAET was ready to meet new gas demand and continue to support the industrialisation in the country years ahead.
The wells to be worked over are all onshore and include SS-3 and SS-4, which are responsible for producing Protected Gas used for power generation at Songas’ Ubungo power generation plant, cement production at the Tanzania Portland Cement Company at Wazo Hill, and for village electrification on Songo Songo and at Somanga.
These wells, when returned to operation, are expected to increase field production potential by around 15 million cubic feet per day.
The third well, SS-10, is used in the production of gas which is vital to additional power generation, sustainment of PAET’s forty-nine industrial customers located around Dar es Salaam and supplied via the company’s natural gas distribution ring main, and the firm’s compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fuelling station at Ubungo which supplies around 100 vehicles per day and is the nucleus of a growing CNG business in Tanzania.
“SS-10 well is currently producing gas, but the work to be carried out will replace ageing components and ensure that the well can continue to produce gas safely and efficiently in the future,” the statement said.
The PAET intends to bring in a drilling rig, which is expected to arrive in Tanzania in September, with work commencing in October and expected to be completed soon after the end of the year. PAET was Tanzania’s first-ever natural gas producer.
The firm signed a PSA with the government and the TPDC in October 2001 and has been successfully producing natural gas from the Songo Songo gas field since 2004.
In partnership with TPDC, the production of natural gas has enabled the accelerated industrialisation of Tanzania witnessed since production began.
Alongside the installation of compression, expected to be completed in early 2022, the restoration of the three wells will ensure that the Songo Songo field continues to be the primary source of gas production in Tanzania for many years to come.
