Natural resource discoveries are by their very nature forward-facing and invite a series of imagined futures at a national level and for communities closest to the extraction sites. In Tanzania, the recent offshore gas discoveries and the projected growth of the industry bring forth expectations of economic growth that has catapulted other economic development plans such as the 'Special Economic Zone' (SEZ) and the 'Mtwara Development Corridor'. While the promissory expectations are largely framed within the dominant discourse of improved livelihoods for the adjacent communities, the processes involved have varying effects for the communities. Structural changes and shifts in everyday realities are evident through the change in land ownership, resettlements of population, increased urbanization, change in local markets, shifts in employment, regional and international migration, to name a few. Against the myriad of activities, this study explores how youth in communities understand these changes and their elicited responses. Being that the industry developments plans are in the early phases, youth in communities are urged to position themselves and seize the opportunities that come with these developments. As such, the purpose of this study is to illuminate the ways in which youth are engaged with in the processes involved in the creation of the energy frontier in Mtwara, ten years following the discovery of significant natural gas in the region. Through the ethnographic study of youth enrolled in vocational and education training institutions, this study aims to explore the spaces in which the emerging frontier creates as it pertains to aspirations, experiences and imagined futures of young people. It aims to investigate the spaces within which Mtwara youth refashion their life trajectories and futures aspirations during their transitions arising from the precarious conditions and changes brought forth with the discovery of natural gas.Natural resource discoveries are by their very nature forward-facing and invite a series of imagined futures at a national level and for communities closest to the extraction sites. In Tanzania, the recent offshore gas discoveries and the projected growth of the industry bring forth expectations of economic growth that has catapulted other economic development plans such as the 'Special Economic Zone' (SEZ) and the 'Mtwara Development Corridor'. While the promissory expectations are largely framed within the dominant discourse of improved livelihoods for the adjacent communities, the processes involved have varying effects for the communities. Structural changes and shifts in everyday realities are evident through the change in land ownership, resettlements of population, increased urbanization, change in local markets, shifts in employment, regional and international migration, to name a few. Against the myriad of activities, this study explores how youth in communities understand these changes and their elicited responses. Being that the industry developments plans are in the early phases, youth in communities are urged to position themselves and seize the opportunities that come with these developments. As such, the purpose of this study is to illuminate the ways in which youth are engaged with in the processes involved in the creation of the energy frontier in Mtwara, ten years following the discovery of significant natural gas in the region. Through the ethnographic study of youth enrolled in vocational and education training institutions, this study aims to explore the spaces in which the emerging frontier creates as it pertains to aspirations, experiences and imagined futures of young people. It aims to investigate the spaces within which Mtwara youth refashion their life trajectories and futures aspirations during their transitions arising from the precarious conditions and changes brought forth with the discovery of natural gas.