Oil in Lake Malawi: Hamra analysing data
There could be oil and also gas both inside and outside the Lake Malawi as United Arab Emirates’ Hamra Oil Holdings Limited (HOHL) has hinted after its oil exploration using a full tensor gravity gradiometry (FTG) survey.
The London-based company Surestream Petroleum was the first to be granted a licence to explore for oil in Malawi in 2011 and it has a minority stakes in Hamra.
Then Hamra Oil joined with other three other companies, Rakgas of the United Arab Emirates, Pacific Oil and Gas of Singapore and the South African company SacOil have also been granted licences for prospecting.
A Lilongwe-based Hamra director Ben Chiza Mkandawire confirmed that the company has completed the first phase of oil exploration and they are still analysing the FTG data ahead of a possible seismic survey.
“What we have managed to get is giving us confidence that there are oil tracks in Lake Malawi,” Chiza-Mkandawire said as his company hired Bell GeoSpace—a world leader in FTGs—to carry out the study using an airplane that flew over the blocks covering Karonga, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay and Nkhotakota.
Chiza Mkandawire, however, said once full results of exploration are out, he was sure the Malawi Government—as the custodian of natural resources in the country—would make appropriate announcements.
Malawi government is yet to discuss the FTG results with Hamra Oil, according toSecretary for Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Ben Botolo .
Oil prospecting was delayed by a row with neighbouring Tanzania, which claims half of the lake, and of the potential oil reserves as its own.
But, as prospecting work takes off, locals are already worrying about how its discovery could change their lives.
More than 1.5 million Malawians living on the shores of the lake, which measures nearly 30 000 square kilometres, depend on fishing for their livelihoods.
Representatives of the oil industry say oil can be extracted without danger to the lake, which home to hundreds of fish species unique to that place, as well as a popular tourist attraction.
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Lake Malawi is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, it should be pronounced a world heritage sight by the United Nations. I promise you the only people that will benefit from drilling oil in lake Malawi are the politicians and the oil companies. Lake Malawi is part of the Great Rift Valley and is a actually sitting on a seismic fault line. Removing oil and gas from a fault line is not a very clever thing to do, it could trigger major earthquakes by disturbing the weight distribution under the lake. A lot of licenses to drill… Read more »
Note : we like fish from our lake.If the fish die we gonna starve nowhere to find (Tirapia saka) to fry it with oil by fire of gas stove. Its fine to become rich in a such way we can say it is a manner from our heavenly father.
Malawi ought to be clever about this and not allow being robbed blind. It is a well known fact that there is gas and oil on the Tanzania side and that with USA help, TZ is capable of drilling for it even horizontally! That technology exists. Were this to happen, any delays to start exploiting may eventually lead to resource drying up having been captured from the TZ side.
The early bird does catch the worm!
let us c first,& then we wil kno ur aims to us.
Aaaaa,za kuba basi,bring out kayerekera invoices first,and let the nation know how much we have out of uranium sales since the mine was opened.or else no oil deal in this country,the whites are enjoying our resources in the west and they call us poor and withhold the donation . What is that? a pitala muthalika kodi mesa mumati ndinu ophuzira kwambiri inu,munaphuzira kuti mudzidzabera mfuko lanu lomwe eeti?mmmxxx
Guyz not all citizens in countries where gas and oil are extracted benefit.we should tread this issue with sober minds.Otherwise we shall have more problems than before
Amalawife ndi anthu atulo kwambiri.Those pple will just disturb and kill everthing in the lake.Ok,go ahead and suffer for the rest of your life when the lake gets dry without water.
I intend to seek the assistance of Greenpeace so that this “lake-polluting” project does not see the light of day. Watch the space!
zausilu zimenenzo, mfunse anthu kaye munve kuti majority akutiponji pankhaniyi. Mesa mumati munatipasa ufulu oyakhula?
My fellow Malawians,let us all stand up against this exploitation. We don’t have to allow these greedy leaders to fool us again. Water is life and a source of livelihood to some.