Block 9 environmental plans reopened for public comment

Compliance audit prompts revisions to four offshore production right EMPrs

SOUTH AFRICA: A public participation process is under way for revised Environmental Management Programmes covering four offshore production rights off Mossel Bay held by PetroSA in Block 9. The notice, published this week, invites the public to comment on the amended programmes by 28 May.

The Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA), holder of all four rights, appointed Environmental Impact Management Services (EIMS) as the independent auditor to identify shortcomings in the existing environmental authorisations and management programmes.

The four rights include:

◼︎ FA_EM Gas Field and FA Satellites (PASA ref 12/4/1/05/2/2/2)
◼︎ FO Gas Field (PASA ref 12/4/08)
◼︎ Oribi / Oryx Oil Field (PASA ref 12/4/1106/2/2/2)
◼︎ South Coast Gas Field (DEA ref 12/12/20/719)

Block 9, in the Bredasdorp Basin off the Southern Cape coast, has anchored South Africa's domestic offshore production for more than three decades. The FA gas field, discovered in the early 1980s, and the neighbouring EM field together provided the feedstock that allowed the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids refinery to come on stream from the early 1990s.

The South Coast Gas project, comprising five smaller reservoirs connected to the FA platform via a roughly 90 km subsea pipeline, was added between 2007 and 2008 to extend the GTL plant's feedstock life. Oribi and Oryx are oil accumulations in the same offshore area.

In short, the production rights now under audit cover the assets that have historically kept South Africa's only synthetic fuels refinery running, and that continue to underpin the country's narrow base of domestic upstream output.

A sector at a crossroads

The audit and amended EMPrs land at a precarious moment for offshore oil and gas in South Africa. The Mossel Bay GTL refinery has been idle since 2020 owing to feedstock shortages, and a planned R3.7 billion restart partnership with Gazprombank Africa collapsed in early 2025. PetroSA has since been in talks with the South African Revenue Service over a reported R4.5 billion tax debt that threatened the plant.

The wider sector is also being reshaped. In July 2024 TotalEnergies announced its exit from Block 11B/12B, home to the Brulpadda and Luiperd gas discoveries, citing commercial and development difficulty in monetising the gas for the local market. The Wild Coast seismic survey litigation continues to wind through the courts, with the Constitutional Court considering aspects of Shell and Impact Africa’s exploration right. At the same time, the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act has commenced and its draft implementing regulations, released in 2025, are expected to be finalised during 2026.

Against this backdrop, an environmental compliance audit of long-standing producing rights is more than routine housekeeping. It signals how PetroSA intends to manage legacy environmental obligations while it pursues new feedstock options, and it offers one of the few formal openings for coastal communities, small-scale fishers and environmental groups to engage on how the country’s oldest offshore fields are run.

Where to participate

Hard copies of the documents are available at the public libraries in Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Still Bay and KwaNonqaba, as well as the Knysna Tourism Offices. An electronic copy can be downloaded from the EIMS public participation page. Comments and I&AP registrations may be sent to Block9@eims.co.za, quoting reference 1730, by 28 May 2026.