National oil company, PetroSA, and Russian geological exploration company, Rosgeo, signed a US$400 million oil and gas investment agreement for oil and gas exploration off the southern coast of South Africa.
The agreement is projected to see the extraction of up to four million cubic metres of gas daily which will be delivered to PetroSA’s gas-to-liquids refinery in Mossel Bay, with interim chairperson of PetroSA, Nhlanhla Gumede, pointing out that a find on the south coast would result in a cheaper feed of oil and gas into the Mossel Bay refinery.
“The signed agreement is aimed at developing bilateral relations and will strengthen Rosgeo’s presence in the African market,” said CEO of Rosgeo, Roman Panov.
According to PetroSA, the project will involve over 4 000 square kilometres of 3D seismic operations, over 13 000 kilometres of gravity-magnetic exploration works and the drilling of exploratory wells.
‘South Africa’s oil and gas potential remains largely unexplored, this exploration effort presents significant upside to both the country and PetroSA,” said chairman of the Central Energy Fund, Luvo Makasi. “The upside for PetroSA is the possible expansion of our depleting gas resources.”
Makasi highlighted that the discovery of hydrocarbons (the chief components of petroleum and gas) on SA’s shores had the potential to bring significant revenues to the country.
