Largest LPG depot opened in Tanga

Tanga. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)  has been touted as the future of clean energy in Tanzania.

Speaking during the opening of Tanga City's largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) depot built by Lake Gas Limited, a member of the Lake Group of Companies, Managing Director/CEO of Absa Bank Tanzania Limited, Obeid Laiser, promised to continue to support the company's efforts to increase investment in LPG supply in order to reduce the use of charcoal and save the environment.

Lake Group has been Absa's partner for a long time, Laiser explained, saying that it has witnessed the company's growth in the oil sector.

"They were now putting money into LPG. This is their biggest investment since beginning to invest in LPG in Tanga in 2018. "They started with a capacity of 1,000 metric tons, but we helped them expand to a capacity of 3,000 metric tons," Laiser pointed out.

Ali Awadh, Chairman of the Lake Group of Companies, East and Central Africa's fastest-growing energy trading and transportation conglomerate, pledged to support the government's determination to strengthen efforts to conserve and protect the environment by providing cheaper gas that the lowest-income strata of the population can afford.

The LPG depot, which has a capacity of 3,000 metric tons of LPG and is the largest in Tanga in terms of LPG storage, is intended to serve the Tanga region as well as neighboring countries.

Awadh believes that the availability of less expensive gas will encourage more people to use LPG, potentially reducing the use of charcoal and firewood. "We expect to distribute many gas cylinders through this depot to serve the region as well as neighboring countries," he said.

He expressed regret that Tanzania, with a population of 60 million people, still consumes 10,000 metric tons of LPG per month. "This is nothing when compared to such small countries as Mauritius, whose consumption is also 10,000 metric tons per month, but for a population of 1.22 million.

He stated that Lake Gas would continue to make significant investments in the supply of low-cost LPG in order to support President Samia Suluhu Hassan's efforts to encourage more people to use LPG and save the environment.

Tanzania's LPG industry is set to improve as consumption rises. Tanzania's LPG industry is at the forefront of introducing new investments in the oil and gas sector.

In 2019, the Tanzanian government claimed that at least eight LPG companies aided the country in increasing gas consumption. Later on, the importation of LPG, as well as oil and gas in Tanzania, has been gradually changing over the last three years.

"Tanzanians are increasingly turning to cleaner domestic energy sources." Imports by LPG marketing companies (LMCs) increased by 12.9 percent, from 107,083 tonnes in 2016/17 to 120,961 tonnes in 2017/18. Imports increased by 20 percent the following year, reaching 145,800 tonnes, before increasing by 30 percent the following year, reaching 190,248 tonnes in the 2019/20 fiscal year, according to Ewura data.