Page 13 - AfrOil Week 04 2021

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

However, all of them will serve Dar Rapid Tran- companies to provide this service, he said, with-
sit (DART), a local public transportation pro- out naming any of the investors involved.
vider that operates buses along high-volume In the meantime, expanding CNG consump-
municipal routes, he said at the weekend. tion is expected to have a positive impact in Dar
TPDC has already selected the sites where es Salaam. Ronald Lwakatare, the CEO of DART,
the stations will be built and has completed a said that the use of CNG-fuelled buses would
feasibility study of its plan, Mataragio added. allow his company to reduce fuel costs by 45%
The company expects to wrap up talks on land because of the switch to CNG. These savings will
acquisition within the next three weeks. allow DART to cut ticket prices, and lower ticket
He went on to say that the two large stations prices may, in turn, raise the number of passen-
would be built at the Dungo area, which is gers using DART buses from 200,000 per day to
already owned by DART, and on Sam Nujoma 500,000 per day, he stated. ™
Road, near the Mawasialiano building, the
headquarters of the Tanzania Communications
Regulatory Authority (TCRA). These hubs will
be able to provide fuel for 300 buses each, he
said.
Two small stations will be built at the Ferry
Fish Market, the Muhimbili National Hospital,
and they will be able to service 200 vehicles per
day, he said. Meanwhile, the third will be built
within the Galagaza-Kibaha industrial zone and
will deliver fuel to the Kairuki pharmaceutical
plant, he said. This third station may eventually
expand its service to other customers based on
demand, he added.
TPDC is looking to promote the use of CNG
as motor fuel and has invited private investors
to invest in gas-fuelled transportation, Mata-
ragio continued. It has already authorised six The new CNG stations will fuel DART’s high-capacity buses (Photo: The Citizen)

“No clear route” to commercialising fields

offshore South Africa, GlobalData says

SOUTH AFRICA GLOBALDATA has raised doubts that recent This could involve the conversion of die-
discoveries offshore South Africa can be devel- sel-fired plants to run on gas and continued
oped, warning that the finds have “no clear route investment in gas infrastructure.
to commercialisation.” “The hurdles to development for Brulpadda
France’s Total made the play-opening Brul- and Luiperd are not insurmountable, but timing
padda gas and condensate discovery at South will be a key fact determining a path to monet-
African offshore Block 11B/12B in February isation, as the discoveries will be unable to alle-
2019. It followed this up with another “signif- viate the country of its near-term gas shortage
icant” find at the Luiperd prospect in October challenge,” Ward said.
2020. These successes have generated interest in South Africa covers around 80% of its gas
South Africa’s offshore potential and are poten- demand with piped supplies from Mozambique,
tially transformational for the country,. But the the analyst said, estimating their cost at $6-7
question of how they could be developed is still per 1,000 cubic feet ($212-247 per 1,000 cubic
unanswered, according to GlobalData. metres). Despite these concerns, GlobalData
“Development of South Africa’s newly dis- said this made gas from Brulpadda and Luiperd
covered gas resources faces competition from attractive, with a breakeven cost of only $3 per
established imports flowing from Mozambique, 1,000 cubic feet. LNG would probably be priced
LNG regasification and a currently unclear higher.
domestic gas outlook,” said Conor Ward, an South Africa’s Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids
analyst for the data analytics company. (GTL) plant is running out of feedstock because
In order for the gas to be developed, South of domestic fields reaching depletion. But it is
Africa would need to significantly expand the unlikely that the offshore gas could be developed
role of gas in its power generation, which is cur- fast enough to save the plant from closure. An
rently mostly coal-based. alternative option could be LNG regasification.

Week 04 27•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13