South Africa commits to offshore O&G exploration

Minister confirms national position

SOUTH AFRICA: Describing South Africa’s offshore territories as “under-explored”, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe confirmed the country’s intention to pursue opportunities in its deep water despite the “crusade against oil and gas development”

Speaking at this week’s Africa Oil Week, the Minister called out foreign-funded lobby groups for hindering South Africa’s attempts to accelerate exploration efforts through “frivolous litigation”.

“This has already affected two major seismic surveys to date, including Shell which abandoned their survey and went on to discover oil and gas in Namibia, as well as ENI which after being taken to court 47 times, left and went to discover oil in huge quantities in Côte d'Ivoire,” he said.

Recent discoveries gas and condensate from two exploration wells drilled in Block 11B/12B offshore in the South Outeniqua Basin as well as successful projects across Africa, are spurring government initiatives to promote the potential of the oil and gas sector.

“The successful 3D seismic data acquisition in April this year by Searcher on South Africa’s west coast has proven that exploration of petroleum resources can be done successfully without any harm to the environment,” he said.

Countering the recent divestment of oil companies from the country’s offshore assets, Mantashe said this represented an opportunity for other investors to take over the assets.

“Although TotalEnergies has announced their exit on the block, there remains a good potential for other oil and gas players to partner with the remaining operator – MainStreet - and develop the block.”

“Contrary to the view that suggests that TotalEnergies withdrawal from the block is tantamount to lack of confidence, it is encouraging that the company is a major shareholder in three blocks North of South Africa’s Orange Basin in the deep to ultra-deep waters, and a 100% shareholder of another larger block that is three times the size of the 11b/12b in Southern Outeniqua,” he said.

Highlighting several of the exploration projects that are currently gearing up for development, the Minister also confirmed that further seismic surveys are scheduled over the next two years.

“Apart from drilling, major seismic exploration projects offshore are planned between 2025 and 2026, including multi-client surveys by CGG South Africa, TGS, and Searcher,” he told delegates.

An enabling environment

Mantashe also provided an update on the much anticipated Petroleum Development Bill, confirming that it was ready to be signed into law by the President following its successful adoption by both houses of parliament.

“We are convinced that once the bill is enacted into law, it will not only pave the way for an orderly development of the Upstream Petroleum Industry but will boost the country’s economic growth to 8% as is the case with Namibia which increased its potential to double its economy by 2040 on the back of its recent discoveries of oil and associate gas,” he said.

South Africa is also in the process of establishing its own national oil company, the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC), in an effort to ensure that the state can share in petroleum projects and exploit some resources in its own right.

The South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC) Bill is undergoing cabinet processes ahead of its onward transmission to parliament for consideration and adoption.

“The enactment of the bill into law will enable the SANPC to operate as South Africa’s leading player in the petroleum industry, thereby ensuring energy security, foster partnerships, and propel economic growth on the back of petroleum resources,” said Mantashe.