Mineral expert advocates onshore oil exploration

Mineral consultant Grain Malunga has asked government to embrace onshore oil exploration instead of offshore exploration because it is cost-effective and environmental friendly.

Onshore oil exploration is done on land where holes are drilled and curved into the sediments under the lake unlike offshore exploration whereby operations are done on the lake, according to Malunga.

Speaking on the sidelines of a sensitisation meeting of the Kanyenda Area Development Committee (ADC) in Nkhotakota on Tuesday, Malunga said onshore oil drilling is ideal as it uses efficient technologies that the country can afford and that in the event of oil spillage, it is cheap to clean up.

“The onshore [exploration] is the wisest thing to do because you have now a technology where you can drill a hole onshore, and you can curve that into the sediments under the lake. And in terms of oil intake or accidents, it is very easy to clean,” he said.

Speaking on the impending exercise, Malunga, a former minister of Energy and Mining, said there is need to demystify complex processes involved in the oil extraction process to lakeshore communities.

Group village head Kalewa, who represented Traditional Authority Kanyenda, asked Hamra Oil Holdings Limited to continue engaging the community during the implementation of the exercise. n