Tanzania moves closer to 5th licensing round for oil and gas exploration

London. Tanzania is preparing to launch its long-awaited fifth oil and gas licensing round once the Cabinet approves a revised Model Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA), officials have confirmed.

Speaking at the Africa Energies Summit in London on May 14, 2026, the director general of the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA) Mr Charles Sangweni, said all technical and administrative preparations for the bidding round had already been completed.

He said the remaining step was government approval of the revised MPSA, which is expected to redefine fiscal and contractual terms for investors entering Tanzania’s upstream petroleum sector.

The licensing round will offer 26 exploration blocks. Of these, 23 are located offshore in the Indian Ocean, while three are situated in Lake Tanganyika.

The planned auction marks Tanzania’s first major licensing round in more than a decade.

Authorities hope the exercise will revive exploration activity and attract fresh foreign investment into the country’s natural gas sector.

The launch, however, has faced repeated postponements.

PURA initially planned to unveil the fifth licensing round during the East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (EAPCE) held in Dar es Salaam in March 2025.

The process was later deferred to May amid unresolved legal and procedural requirements linked to the revised production-sharing framework.

Government officials have repeatedly maintained that the updated MPSA is intended to improve investor confidence by creating more predictable and transparent commercial terms.

To support the bidding process, PURA has partnered with global geophysical company TGS to provide investors with access to extensive geological and seismic data.

The data package includes magnetic and gravity surveys, 2D and 3D seismic data covering more than 132,000 square kilometres, as well as historical well information.

Officials say this is intended to reduce exploration risks and accelerate investor assessments of Tanzania’s offshore and inland petroleum basins.

Alongside the competitive bidding process, the state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is seeking strategic partners for several exploration areas currently under public development.

These include the Lindi-Mtwara, Eyasi-Wembere, North Mnazi Bay and West Songo Songo blocks.

Tanzania estimates its proven natural gas reserves at more than 57 trillion cubic feet, most of them discovered offshore. Past licensing rounds attracted international firms including Petrobras, Ophir Energy, and Statoil— now Equinor — and Shell.

Major offshore discoveries made between 2010 and 2015 positioned Tanzania among East Africa’s leading gas producers.

The government is also counting on the proposed $42 billion Tanzania LNG project and ongoing developments at the Ntorya gas field to strengthen investor appetite for the sector.

Sangweni said ongoing projects, including the Sh235 billion drilling campaign at the Mnazi Bay block, demonstrated Tanzania’s ability to support large-scale upstream investments and maintain operational stability.