Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has called on the High Petroleum Regulatory Authority (PURA) to speed up the process of developing oil and natural gas blocks in the country.

Majaliwa made the remarks on September 20, 2023 after visiting the PURA pavilion at the two-day energy conference at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Hall in Dar es Salaam.

"Make sure you accelerate the process of developing our blocks so that investors can invest in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the country so that the country benefits," he added.

In a brief statement before the Prime Minister, PURA Director General Charles Sangweni explained that the Authority is continuing the initial implementation of the fifth round of oil and gas blocks for land and sea areas with the aim of boosting investors.

He added that in line with the preparations, PURA continues to set limits on the blocks to be installed and prepare data packages for each nursery.

"So far 26 blocks are being analysed to be proposed for inclusion in the auction. Of these, 15 blocks are on land and 11 are in the sea," explained engineer Sangweni.

He also noted that the Government intends to launch the Nursery Exercise between December, 2023 and March, 2024 after the completion of the ongoing preparation activities.

It is estimated that the exercise of the nursery is estimated to cost a total of Sh3.5 billion.

In addition, by 2023/24 the Government through PURA has allocated 500 million shillings for the initial preparation work of the exercise.