Tanzania’s Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), has announced that it will begin an advanced search for crude oil in Lake Tanganyika.

The corporation on its premier stage of survey across the lake stated that it is confident that the vicinity from Kigoma Rural, Kigoma Ujiji, Uvinza and Mpanda Rural has great quantity of oil resources.

Indeed, the corporation’s confidence is based on the fact that Lake Tanganyika is similar to Lake Albert where Uganda had already found oil.

TPDC in a statement declared that between November 2015 and January 2016, it is organizing a non-invasive Airborne Gravity Gradiometry Survey (AGGS) over Lake Tanganyika rift basin.

According to the managing director of TPDC, James Mataragio, the aim of the survey is to procure high resolution gravity and magnetic data to map the subsurface structural geological framework, thickness and the extent of sedimentary rocks over Lake Tanganyika rift basin.

He added that the AGGS data will be useful in the discovery of other potential areas with hydrocarbon deposition and identify targets for drilling in its next survey

TPDC is however, funding the whole project through its development funds. The campaign for the survey is to be conducted using a low-flying special aircraft which will fly between altitude 80 and 100 metres above the ground at a speed of 220 kms/hour.

“The survey will be flown during the day. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience that may be caused by the presence of the aircraft around survey areas," Mataragio told the Citizen news.