Oklahomans Teaching Tanzanians About Natural Gas Production

Oklahoma oil and gas companies are stepping up to help a struggling nation halfway around the world.

A delegation of officials from the African nation Tanzania is in Oklahoma City this week, getting advice on how to handle a large off-shore discovery of natural gas.

It's even bigger than Thunder center Hasheem Thabeet, who is from Tanzania. It's about helping a developing nation develop, taking the Oklahoma standard international.

Specifically, to Africa, where, just off the coast of Tanzania, 43 trillion cubic feet of natural gas has been discovered in the last couple of years.

Many of the Tanzanian officials responsible for establishing the policies for developing that resource were listening intently Monday at the Meinders School of Business, as top Oklahoma energy executives shared their knowledge and experience.

Oklahoma independents have been leaders in the development of natural gas, and Tanzanian officials hope this will help them address major infrastructure issues in their country, especially a lack of access to electricity. Organizers of the event say Oklahoma was the perfect place for such a conference.

The Tanzanian officials are extremely grateful for what Oklahoma's oil and gas executives are doing for them and they were also grateful for getting to see some of the Thunder game Monday night and getting to meet with Hasheem and other players afterward.