Helium drilling should start immediately, Muhongo says
Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo.
What you need to know:
- The discovery has been hailed by scientists in the world as timely, given the dwindling of helium reserves
- Researchers from Durham and Oxford universities, however, have surprised the scientific world by discovering a huge new reserve in Tanzania’s Rift Valley in east Africa—using a new technique which could be used to find even more. It turns out that volcanic activity helps release the gas from the ancient rocks which usually hold it, allowing it to rise to shallower gas fields.
Dar es Salaam. The Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo, has ordered the drilling of helium to start immediately.
Prof Muhongo told The Citizen that the management of the Helium One Company had been given the go ahead to start drilling at Lake Rukwa where 54.2 billion standard cubic feet of the gas had been found.
“I have spoken with Mr Thomas Abraham-James, the chief executive officer of Helium One and I have urged him to start immediately,” Prof Muhongo, who is also an outstanding geologist, told The Citizen on Wednesday. The Norway-based Helium One discovered the gas together with scientists from Durham and Oxford universities.
Hopes are high within the government that the discovery of helium in Tanzania that the discovery could change Tanzania’s fortunes for the better.
President Magufuli has also reacted in his Twitter page to the news, calling for extra care in signing contracts with the investors on the project so that Tanzanians benefit from the resources.
“I thank God for the discovery of helium in Tanzania. My call to our experts is that lets prepare ourselves well, especially in the area of the development agreements so that such rare resources help in building our country,” President Magufuli said in a June 28 tweet.
The discovery has been hailed by scientists in the world as timely, given the dwindling in helium reserves.
The US Federal Helium Reserve, which is the world’s largest supplier currently holds 24 BCf of the gas which was set to run out because the gas is not renewable or replaceable and no deposits have ever been found before.
Helium was found accidently in oil and gas wells during exploration. Current global consumption stands at around 8 BCf a year.
The gas is used for medical diagnosis in MRI scanners in hospitals and in rocket science. The Tanzanian deposits are enough to fill over 1.2 million medical MRI scanners.
The Lake Rukwa discovery is considered a major breakthrough of the new approach that was used. It was a combination of prospecting methods from the oil industry other techniques. Scientists belive more helium could be stashed underneath the Great East African Rift Valley.
