Aminex (LSE:AEX), the East Africa-focused oil and gas company, said its wholly owned subsidiary Ndovu Resources and joint venture operator ARA Petroleum Tanzania (APT) have approved a revised 2026 work programme alongside a provisional 2027 budget for the Ruvuma production sharing agreement.
The joint venture will spend up to $75 million gross across the remainder of 2026 and 2027 on the Ntorya gas development.
Testing at the Ntorya-2 well begins in November, with production into the Ntorya-Madimba pipeline targeted for December, once flowlines and a gas processing unit contract, expected to be signed this month, are in place.
Wellhead maintenance at Ntorya-1 starts in October and will determine whether a rig workover is needed; if so, gas production from that well would slip to December 2027, scheduled after the planned Ntorya-Central drilling.
The pipeline itself is nearly complete, with state utility TPDC confirming roughly 95% of pipelaying and infilling finished and connection works ongoing at the Madimba plant.
The provisional 2027 programme also opens the door to two further appraisal wells, Ntorya-East and Ntorya-West, subject to results from Ntorya-3, plus an obligatory well at Chikumbi-1 under the development licence.
"We remain focused on maintaining the current momentum and delivering first gas in December," said Charles Santos, Aminex's executive chairman.