Tanzania's current natural gas reserves are at about 55 trillion cubic feet (tcf) following new deep sea discoveries off its southern coast, the east African nation's energy minister said. East Africa is a new hotspot in hydrocarbon exploration after substantial deposits of crude oil were found in Uganda and major gas reserves discovered in Tanzania and Mozambique.
"As a result of ongoing exploration activity, natural gas resources discovered in the country rose from 46.5 tcf in June 2014 to 55.08 tcf in April 2015, equivalent to an increase of 18 percent," George Simbachawene, Tanzania's energy and minerals minister, said in a presentation to parliament on Saturday.
Tanzania in October raised its estimate of recoverable natural gas resources to up to 53.2 tcf.