Geza Ulole
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 31, 2009
- 59,193
- 79,427
Dear the great thinkers of JF,
As much as i was suspicious of Hon. Zitto motives on the assigned review process on the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs)and energy contracts by the Minister of Energy and Minerals (MEM); i was forced to backtrack from my prior stand and right-off any attempts to have anything significant out of this review process when i came across this!
Before narrating what triggered this sudden retraction of his official statement, as great thinkers of this forum we should first ask ourselves what has happened after the discovery of US$ 33 mio. (unpaid revenues by PanAfrican Energy); a quota meant for TPDC according to PSA? And what happened to the Parliament committee directives to our Government to seek the reimbursement from PanAfrican energy that was supposed to pay its dues anyway?
Do we have to restart "the process" every time when a new leadership takes over in that ministry, if the objective is not to change or revoke the current contracts that are not in the best interest of our welfare going to this crucial stage of exploiting the proven resources estimated at 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and valued over US$ 430 bio.? How about Zitto's cry for a creation of sovereign Wealth fund? Do we have ears to hear? BTW, what about the implementation process of the Bomani committee recommendations?
Can His Excellency Dr (Honorary)Kikwete look himself in the mirror? BTW; if we had a Bomani committee to look at royalties and other taxes paid by gold mines, and if EWURA oversleeps on its assigned duties, how about having one (independent) to oversee setting up good gas and oil regulatory policies, and to oversee both the agreements and directives set are respected by the gas companies after the policies are in place before things go awry? Do we have to wait till things go sour? To me, that ministry is too big and lacks first; the capacity to properly handle responsibilities that come from both energy and mineral portfolios! If at all we are serious with our future prospects (we and the generations to come) that ministry has to be split into two now.
Energy sector that is seriously in shambles; needs its own ministry that will oversee power supply, production and revenues of coal, renewable energy sources (like geothermal,solar, biomass, wind) and conventional energy sources like nukes, oil and gas. This has to be serious considered now, especially at this particular time our nation is proven to have over US$ 400 bio. worth of reserves at stake and never had this huge wealth to deal with before!
On the other hand, the Mineral ministry has to continue to with deal with all non-hydrocarbons mineral prospecting licences (metals and gemstones) among others negotiating contracts and PSAs agreements and without forgetting, overseeing how the mining of non-hydrocarbons minerals are conducted according to regulations in place.
But, at the same time other ministries (of less importance) can be merged to allow this to happen since the current cabinet is too big and costly to tax-payers to run and its setup is infested with high level bureaucracy that hinders supposed to be swift-delivery on most important issues.
Second; the ministry lacks the highly sought-after integrity to undertake basic but so vital duties like precisely-protecting our interests while signing PSAs especially with the current regime that is allergic to Transparency!
Most of our officers there lack accountability and do not hold at heart the interests of this country probably out of the question of kick-backs luring patriotism....
Once more, We have to quickly remind ourselves that this same graft blighted ministry harbored Nazir Karamagi and William Ngeleja; each of them at his own era and not a single person within the ministry dared to expose their economic atrocities undertakings that could have saved our country from the current situation that prevents our nation to achieve its true and rightly deserving economic potentials out of loss of opportunity due to negligence, revenue loss as a result of pervasive graft and worst enough dilemma on our economic prospects way forward; our sovereignty faces at the moment.
Though these two are no more at there, we should not sit back and relax and assure ourselves that all is well at that ministry while with the exception of Karamagi and Ngeleja together with Jairo and the old board at TPDC; the old guards are still at large, some even got promoted, a worrisome situation.
The likes of energy commissioners, mining commissioners (that issue mining blocks permits and mining licences), ministry directors, ministry lawyers et al that are technical savvy and so instrumental to the daily ministry undertakings since are pinnacles on crafting contracts and policies that directly affect us all; but chose to facilitate agreements that right now we are struggling to annul or improve its terms since we disapprove them.
Out of all these setbacks at the management level of the institution assigned to oversee our newly found hydrocarbons, can we dare to say all his arguments (i mean Zitto's) need to go down the drain since he just sound to have attacked Prof. Muhongo on a mission that has already lost track on citing his latest remarks that contradicted the task he assigned the TPDC board to undertake prior?
Are we really serious to easily forget the Parliamentary Energy Committee findings and recommendations that sit at Mr Muhongo shelves without a follow up or implementation of its findings and recommendations!? What is the Government of Mr President doing on recovering the funds not issued to our coffers by PanAfrican energy? And what about the hydrocarbon experts at TPDC have to say on commercialization process of this resource?
IMOHO, we really need to trade carefully since we just have no idea how good are these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) that have for so long proven to be so tricky and best spinners of issues to suit their interests where hydrocarbons have been discovered!
Before procrastination costs direly our nation in the near future, We need perseverance on the part of a man at the center of golden undertakings to dare and keep his stand firm and NOT someone that can be easily persuaded to change his stand after issuing them on the back of excuses that the media misquoted his public announcement; fun enough his rebuttal came two days late...likewise we need a man that does not compromise but endowed with negotiation skills and capable of reaching consensus albeit knowing there will be so many deadlocks before attaining a WIN-WIN situation.
Whereas my reasonable doubt lies on the wrong foot under which Mr Muhongo has stepped in on encountering these Mega MNCs; i am convinced to say i withhold the same view on the whole system at the moment that is in shambles. And that includes my holding of mistrusts on the TPDC experts on their lack of focus and seriousness in handling this massive wealth that lies underneath our coastal-land, the immediate off sea and deep in our Economic exclusion zone (EEZ).
It is out of this vagueness in handling the matter at hand i support Hon. Zitto whistle blowing cum brain storming approach to alert us of the path we are taking towards resource curse society, and i vehemently support his loud approach on the on-goings at the MEM. Without a mistake, TRANSPARENCY should be foremost embraced if we have to achieve anything meaningful going towards setting up a first LNG on our shores.
Furthermore I would have wanted to hear anything from the NEMC but i am completely ashamed of the fact that the institution is almost dead and to only be reminded of its duties when a replica of the Gulf of Mexico disaster is to happen on our Pristine Coastal waters. So please my dear Tanzanians, Give Hon. Zitto a benefit of doubt and let him do his duties bestowed upon him by our constitution, unfortunately we have no idea how badly we need him and many more others since; his being vocal is just a drop in the ocean if we are to compare to serious debates that are currently underway within Ghana on a similar topic i.e. on how best to exploit their crude there.
UPDATE 2-Tanzania says will not revoke any oil and gas PSAs
Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:42pm GMT
* Energy minister says PSAs will be respected
* Tanzania drafting a new gas policy
* East Africa a new hot spot in oil and gas exploration
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala | DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 18 (Reuters)
Tanzania will not revokeexisting oil and gas contracts, its energy minister said onTuesday, two days after he was widely reported in local mediasaying unfavourable deals would be scrapped.
East Africa is a new hotspot in hydrocarbon explorationafter substantial deposits of crude oil were found in Uganda in2006 and major gas reserves were discovered in Tanzania andMozambique.
Some of the world's biggest energy firms jostling for spacein the region are finding themselves negotiating withgovernments that are themselves learning how to negotiate energycontracts.
Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo confirmed areview of all Production Sharing Agreements that had beenordered but said this was because east Africa's second biggesteconomy was preparing a new gas policy.
"We are not trying to stop any business. We will not revokeany contract, we will respect all contracts," Muhongo told Reuters.
There was no immediate reaction from the companies exploringin Tanzania, including Norway's Statoil, Ophir Energy and BG Group, which have all made significantoffshore natural gas discoveries offshore.
Muhongo said the review was procedural. It was critical, hesaid, officials were familiar with the terms of old contracts toavoid making mistakes as they drew up new deals.
Earlier this month, the state-run Tanzania PetroleumDevelopment Corporation (TPDC) delayed a licensing round fornine deep-sea oil and gas blocks previously set for this monthuntil a parliamentary vote on a new gas policy in October.
"Right now as a country, we are in the gas boom and we don'thave gas policy in place. In June, Tanzania - which already uses some of its naturalgas to produce electricity and to power industry - nearlytripled its estimate of recoverable natural gas resources to upto 28.74 trillion cubic feet (tcf) from 10 trillion followingrecent major discoveries. Muhongo said he had been misquoted in Tanzania's local mediaover the weekend.
"The review of the 26 existing contracts should not frightenanyone," the minister said.
Recent gas strikes off east Africa's seaboard have led topredictions the region could become the third largest exporterof natural gas on the planet. Muhongo denied Tanzania was looking to shift the goal posts.
"Our country is reviewing its policy. Is that somethingnew?" he said.
"We want both the companies that are investing in thecountry and Tanzanians to benefit from the oil and gasprojects."
The speed with which east African countries like Tanzania adapt to their newfound resources could determine whether theregion lives up to its reputation as the latest great oil andgas frontier, with big implications for global energy flows aswell as regional energy flows.
"This is completely new business to us. We are learning," Muhongo said.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
As much as i was suspicious of Hon. Zitto motives on the assigned review process on the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs)and energy contracts by the Minister of Energy and Minerals (MEM); i was forced to backtrack from my prior stand and right-off any attempts to have anything significant out of this review process when i came across this!
Before narrating what triggered this sudden retraction of his official statement, as great thinkers of this forum we should first ask ourselves what has happened after the discovery of US$ 33 mio. (unpaid revenues by PanAfrican Energy); a quota meant for TPDC according to PSA? And what happened to the Parliament committee directives to our Government to seek the reimbursement from PanAfrican energy that was supposed to pay its dues anyway?
Do we have to restart "the process" every time when a new leadership takes over in that ministry, if the objective is not to change or revoke the current contracts that are not in the best interest of our welfare going to this crucial stage of exploiting the proven resources estimated at 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas and valued over US$ 430 bio.? How about Zitto's cry for a creation of sovereign Wealth fund? Do we have ears to hear? BTW, what about the implementation process of the Bomani committee recommendations?
Can His Excellency Dr (Honorary)Kikwete look himself in the mirror? BTW; if we had a Bomani committee to look at royalties and other taxes paid by gold mines, and if EWURA oversleeps on its assigned duties, how about having one (independent) to oversee setting up good gas and oil regulatory policies, and to oversee both the agreements and directives set are respected by the gas companies after the policies are in place before things go awry? Do we have to wait till things go sour? To me, that ministry is too big and lacks first; the capacity to properly handle responsibilities that come from both energy and mineral portfolios! If at all we are serious with our future prospects (we and the generations to come) that ministry has to be split into two now.
Energy sector that is seriously in shambles; needs its own ministry that will oversee power supply, production and revenues of coal, renewable energy sources (like geothermal,solar, biomass, wind) and conventional energy sources like nukes, oil and gas. This has to be serious considered now, especially at this particular time our nation is proven to have over US$ 400 bio. worth of reserves at stake and never had this huge wealth to deal with before!
On the other hand, the Mineral ministry has to continue to with deal with all non-hydrocarbons mineral prospecting licences (metals and gemstones) among others negotiating contracts and PSAs agreements and without forgetting, overseeing how the mining of non-hydrocarbons minerals are conducted according to regulations in place.
But, at the same time other ministries (of less importance) can be merged to allow this to happen since the current cabinet is too big and costly to tax-payers to run and its setup is infested with high level bureaucracy that hinders supposed to be swift-delivery on most important issues.
Second; the ministry lacks the highly sought-after integrity to undertake basic but so vital duties like precisely-protecting our interests while signing PSAs especially with the current regime that is allergic to Transparency!
Most of our officers there lack accountability and do not hold at heart the interests of this country probably out of the question of kick-backs luring patriotism....
Once more, We have to quickly remind ourselves that this same graft blighted ministry harbored Nazir Karamagi and William Ngeleja; each of them at his own era and not a single person within the ministry dared to expose their economic atrocities undertakings that could have saved our country from the current situation that prevents our nation to achieve its true and rightly deserving economic potentials out of loss of opportunity due to negligence, revenue loss as a result of pervasive graft and worst enough dilemma on our economic prospects way forward; our sovereignty faces at the moment.
Though these two are no more at there, we should not sit back and relax and assure ourselves that all is well at that ministry while with the exception of Karamagi and Ngeleja together with Jairo and the old board at TPDC; the old guards are still at large, some even got promoted, a worrisome situation.
The likes of energy commissioners, mining commissioners (that issue mining blocks permits and mining licences), ministry directors, ministry lawyers et al that are technical savvy and so instrumental to the daily ministry undertakings since are pinnacles on crafting contracts and policies that directly affect us all; but chose to facilitate agreements that right now we are struggling to annul or improve its terms since we disapprove them.
Out of all these setbacks at the management level of the institution assigned to oversee our newly found hydrocarbons, can we dare to say all his arguments (i mean Zitto's) need to go down the drain since he just sound to have attacked Prof. Muhongo on a mission that has already lost track on citing his latest remarks that contradicted the task he assigned the TPDC board to undertake prior?
Are we really serious to easily forget the Parliamentary Energy Committee findings and recommendations that sit at Mr Muhongo shelves without a follow up or implementation of its findings and recommendations!? What is the Government of Mr President doing on recovering the funds not issued to our coffers by PanAfrican energy? And what about the hydrocarbon experts at TPDC have to say on commercialization process of this resource?
IMOHO, we really need to trade carefully since we just have no idea how good are these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) that have for so long proven to be so tricky and best spinners of issues to suit their interests where hydrocarbons have been discovered!
Before procrastination costs direly our nation in the near future, We need perseverance on the part of a man at the center of golden undertakings to dare and keep his stand firm and NOT someone that can be easily persuaded to change his stand after issuing them on the back of excuses that the media misquoted his public announcement; fun enough his rebuttal came two days late...likewise we need a man that does not compromise but endowed with negotiation skills and capable of reaching consensus albeit knowing there will be so many deadlocks before attaining a WIN-WIN situation.
Whereas my reasonable doubt lies on the wrong foot under which Mr Muhongo has stepped in on encountering these Mega MNCs; i am convinced to say i withhold the same view on the whole system at the moment that is in shambles. And that includes my holding of mistrusts on the TPDC experts on their lack of focus and seriousness in handling this massive wealth that lies underneath our coastal-land, the immediate off sea and deep in our Economic exclusion zone (EEZ).
It is out of this vagueness in handling the matter at hand i support Hon. Zitto whistle blowing cum brain storming approach to alert us of the path we are taking towards resource curse society, and i vehemently support his loud approach on the on-goings at the MEM. Without a mistake, TRANSPARENCY should be foremost embraced if we have to achieve anything meaningful going towards setting up a first LNG on our shores.
Furthermore I would have wanted to hear anything from the NEMC but i am completely ashamed of the fact that the institution is almost dead and to only be reminded of its duties when a replica of the Gulf of Mexico disaster is to happen on our Pristine Coastal waters. So please my dear Tanzanians, Give Hon. Zitto a benefit of doubt and let him do his duties bestowed upon him by our constitution, unfortunately we have no idea how badly we need him and many more others since; his being vocal is just a drop in the ocean if we are to compare to serious debates that are currently underway within Ghana on a similar topic i.e. on how best to exploit their crude there.
UPDATE 2-Tanzania says will not revoke any oil and gas PSAs
Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:42pm GMT
* Energy minister says PSAs will be respected
* Tanzania drafting a new gas policy
* East Africa a new hot spot in oil and gas exploration
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala | DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 18 (Reuters)
Tanzania will not revokeexisting oil and gas contracts, its energy minister said onTuesday, two days after he was widely reported in local mediasaying unfavourable deals would be scrapped.
East Africa is a new hotspot in hydrocarbon explorationafter substantial deposits of crude oil were found in Uganda in2006 and major gas reserves were discovered in Tanzania andMozambique.
Some of the world's biggest energy firms jostling for spacein the region are finding themselves negotiating withgovernments that are themselves learning how to negotiate energycontracts.
Energy and Minerals Minister Sospeter Muhongo confirmed areview of all Production Sharing Agreements that had beenordered but said this was because east Africa's second biggesteconomy was preparing a new gas policy.
"We are not trying to stop any business. We will not revokeany contract, we will respect all contracts," Muhongo told Reuters.
There was no immediate reaction from the companies exploringin Tanzania, including Norway's Statoil, Ophir Energy and BG Group, which have all made significantoffshore natural gas discoveries offshore.
Muhongo said the review was procedural. It was critical, hesaid, officials were familiar with the terms of old contracts toavoid making mistakes as they drew up new deals.
Earlier this month, the state-run Tanzania PetroleumDevelopment Corporation (TPDC) delayed a licensing round fornine deep-sea oil and gas blocks previously set for this monthuntil a parliamentary vote on a new gas policy in October.
"Right now as a country, we are in the gas boom and we don'thave gas policy in place. In June, Tanzania - which already uses some of its naturalgas to produce electricity and to power industry - nearlytripled its estimate of recoverable natural gas resources to upto 28.74 trillion cubic feet (tcf) from 10 trillion followingrecent major discoveries. Muhongo said he had been misquoted in Tanzania's local mediaover the weekend.
"The review of the 26 existing contracts should not frightenanyone," the minister said.
Recent gas strikes off east Africa's seaboard have led topredictions the region could become the third largest exporterof natural gas on the planet. Muhongo denied Tanzania was looking to shift the goal posts.
"Our country is reviewing its policy. Is that somethingnew?" he said.
"We want both the companies that are investing in thecountry and Tanzanians to benefit from the oil and gasprojects."
The speed with which east African countries like Tanzania adapt to their newfound resources could determine whether theregion lives up to its reputation as the latest great oil andgas frontier, with big implications for global energy flows aswell as regional energy flows.
"This is completely new business to us. We are learning," Muhongo said.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
