The Zanzibar 1st Licensing Round team is delighted has announced the appointment of the new Managing Director of ZPRA, Mohammed S. Said. Previously, Mr Said was Director of Data Management at ZPRA and has held posts at the Department of Energy and Minerals.

 Professionally, he is a petroleum engineer with a specialisation in reservoir engineering and petrophysics. He holds a Master’s Degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) at Trondheim, Norway.

Zanzibar aims are to build a resilient economy for the benefit of its people through the sustainable development of its offshore petroleum resources, and welcomes responsible parties to engage in the 1st Zanzibar Licensing Round.

The Licensing Round offers a large frontier area with untapped oil and gas potential. The basin’s evolution dates back to Early-Mid Jurassic which is analogous to the adjacent prolific East African basins.

The licensing round consists of 8 blocks of size between 2,846 km² to 5,666 km² situated within water depths between 500m and 3,000m. The blocks that will be offered under the 1st Licensing Round include Block 1-A, Block 1-B, Block 1-C, Block 1-D, Block 1-E, Block 1-F, Block 1-G, and Block 1-H.

The deadline for bid submission and licensing round closure is set for mid- December 2024.