South African Business 2023

FOCUS Driving

FOCUS Driving socio-economic growth Petroleum Agency South Africa assigns exploration and production rights to bolster the country’s economy. South Africa is a net importer of fuel and the country’s refining capacity has been reduced in recent years. To counter this trend, exploration has been on an upward trajectory. Partly this is explained by growing certainty in the regulatory environment and by the good work done by Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), the agency which evaluates, promotes and regulates oil and gas production in the country. This has seen increased interest in South Africa’s potential as a destination for investment dollars. Underpinning PASA’s strategy is the need to ensure that all prospecting and mining leases are for the long-term economic benefit of South Africa. This applies to every kind of licence issued by the agency, be it in old technologies or new. Just Energy Transition PASA also has to deal with the global desire to move away from fossil fuels and to start using cleaner, renewable energy. The Mossgas facility at Mossel Bay could be revitalised if new finds are turned into gas production. Is it possible to grow the economy by exploiting the country’s natural resources and start moving to a greener future? PASA CEO Dr Phindile Masangane not only thinks it’s possible, she insists that it’s something South Africa must do. Dr Masangane points out that with South Africa’s excellent solar resources it makes sense to localise the solar value chain to boost manufacturing but the country should not ignore what it has. “At the same time, we know that the gas value chain is well established in the country, so let’s also capitalise on that.” The multiple uses of gas could play a major role in helping South Africa transition away from fossil fuels while at the same time boosting economic growth. “We need gas not just in electricity and transport,” noted Dr Masangane, “but importantly for South Africa, which is in desperate need of an economic turnaround, is for us to use this gas for our manufacturing industry.” Referencing a section on gas in a report on energy in Africa by the International Energy Agency, Dr Masangane says, “Most of what Africa produces is actually exported out of the continent.” The report notes that Africa accounts for less than 3% of the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Says Dr Masangane, “This report calls for us as Africa to extract the gas and produce it and use it not just to power the continent but to reindustrialise the continent and industrialise for the first time some countries on the continent.” Potential impact The gas discoveries that have been made off the coast of South Africa (near Mossel Bay), when linked with the massive finds off the coast of Mozambique and the enormous potential that exists in fields off the west coast, amount to what could become a massive change in the regional economy. TotalEnergies and its partners have deployed the SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2023 60

FOCUS Deepsea Stavanger offshore drilling rig and they have achieved significant successes. The two fields where finds have been made are called Luiperd (where 2.1-trillion feet of contingent gas resources has been found, enough to power a medium-sized city for five years) and Brulpadda (1.3 Tef ), which are part of Block 11B/12B. If this gas were to be piped to the existing gas-to-liquid plant at Mossel Bay, Mossgas, then instead of spending about R12-billion on decommissioning the plant, the facility could instead start generating R22-billion in taxes and royalties and save South African taxpayers R26.5- billion through not having to import oil and refined products. PASA estimates that the gas found in these blocks could produce 560-million cubic feet per day of gas for more than 15 years. TotalEnergies’ expenditure on stream phase one could amount to -billion in 2027 and create 1 500 direct jobs, 5 000 indirect jobs and increase the country’s gross domestic production by R22-billion. The plan is to run the gas via a pipeline to a new fixed steel platform, and from there to use the existing pipeline to get the gas to Mossgas. Up to 18 000 barrels per day of condensate and 210-million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) are expected to be pumped to the facility. Gas condensate is a hydrocarbon liquid stream separated from natural gas and is used for making petrol, diesel and heating oil. ■ DATABASE MANAGEMENT The continental shelf of the Republic of South Africa covers some 200 000km² and the country has a coastline approximately 3 000km in length. Petroleum Agency SA is responsible for the archive and management of the national hydrocarbon exploration database on behalf of the State. It has digitised, indexed and archived all of the data and reports resulting from the drilling of more than 300 offshore and some 200 onshore boreholes. The exploration database also includes seismic field and processed data for more than 300 000km of 2D and 40 000km² of 3D seismic data that was acquired offshore and some 9 800km of seismic processed data that was acquired during the late 1960s in the Karoo, Algoa and Zululand onshore basins. Being the custodian of the National Petroleum Exploration and Production Database of South Africa, the Agency relies on a sustainable and effective Information Management Infrastructure in order to comply with its mandate to: • archive and maintain a database on petroleum exploration and production data • provide access to existing data, cores, well samples, information and literature on request • add value and incorporate new as well as interpreted data into the database • maintain records of all hydrocarbon exploration and production activities. PASA CEO Dr Phindile Masangane