Oil & gas leaders unpack South Africa’s massive gas discovery with the Africa Energy Chamber

THE African Energy Chamber (AEC)  hosted senior industry leaders at a breakfast event under the title, “The role of indigenous Oil and Gas resources in Developing South Africa’s economy.” Participants came from international oil companies, local and internationally operating services companies and the public sector.

Hot topic on the discussion with the Chamber was how Total’s recent offshore gas discovery could be best harnessed for the benefit of South Africa’s local companies and the economy at large. Speakers featured Niall Kramer, CEO of the South African Gas Alliance (SAOGA), Petroleum Agency South Africa’s Resource Evaluation Manager Dave Van de Spu, the Department of Trade and Industry’s Director of Up and Midstream Oil & Gas Kishan Pillay and AEC’s Senior Vice President Verner Ayukegba amongst others.

Advising on regulatory framework and oil investment matters, Centurion Law Group CEO and AEC Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk said the natural resources story in Africa doesn’t always have to be the same. “South Africa has a great opportunity to get it right and make oil and gas work for everyone. Gas monetisation is key to development and job creation.  Policy makers have a huge role to play and a lot of good deals will be done for local companies. We hope field development plans will not be delayed and a quick offering of more oil blocks to explorers like ExxonMobil, Eni and others to drill will be good for the industry and the country,” he elaborated. “These changes to the oil industry and opportunities in South Africa will take centre stage at the October 2019 Africa Oil and Power event in Cape Town.”

The South African government is currently working on new legislation that will amongst other things separate oil and gas legislature from traditional minerals. This according to SAOGA CEO Niall Kramer is likely to be ratified this year. “We want predictability and an enabling environment that allows our members to attract investors and supply the industry with the necessary services in demand. We need to be open and accommodating to international skills,” he said on the upcoming amended policy regulations.

Amidst the thought-provoking discussions around South Africa’s current infrastructure, production forecast, local content policies and regulations, Kishan Pillay, Director: Up and Midstream Oil & Gas (Dti) implored for time to put in the right kind of regulatory framework. “The word nascent is very important. What we must understand is that places like the USA have developed their gas industry over decades. If we are serious about gas moving forward, we need to make sure it’s done properly over the long-term.”

South Africa released a new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2018) to install an additional 8,100MW of gas-to-power capacity in South Africa by 2030.