One of the promising hotspots for oil and gas exploration drilling this year—South Africa’s offshore—has just yielded a massive natural gas and condensate find that could open a new exploration province for oil majors and change the energy fortunes of South Africa.
France’s major Total said this week that it had made a significant discovery on the
Brulpadda prospects off the southern coast of South Africa.
“With this discovery, Total has opened a new world-class gas and
oil play and is well positioned to test several follow-on prospects on the same
block,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at Total.
According to Total’s chief
executive Patrick Pouyanne, the discovery could hold 1 billion barrels
of oil equivalent of gas and condensate
resources.
The operator of the license, Total, and its partners Qatar
Petroleum, CNR International, and South African consortium Main Street, now
plan to acquire 3D seismic data this year, followed by up to four exploration
wells on the license.
“It is exciting for our country
that this discovery has been made. It is potentially a major boost for the
economy, and we welcome it as we continue to seek investment to grow our
economy,” South Africa’s Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said, commenting on the major gas discovery.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC)
also hailed the first major deep water discovery off South Africa, saying, “This is a great first step for
the country which still relies on imports of oil and gas despite the great
reserves believed to be in its soil and waters.”
According to AEC, the discovery could change the course of South
Africa’s economy and help to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and natural
gas imports.
While South Africa is currently
drafting new legislation on oil and gas resource development, the offshore
regions around the whole African continent has recently seen growing interestfrom oil and gas majors willing to explore what they believe is
the next exploration hotspot in the world. BP and Shell are expanding their
African presence, while ExxonMobil is focusing on western and southern Africa,
amassing stakes in prospects in Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia, and South Africa,
hoping to strike a discovery containing no less than a billion barrels of
crude, also known as an elephant.
South Africa was one of the
hotspots of promising exploration
drilling that WoodMac had identified for this year, alongside Guyana, Brazil,
Mexico, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Cyprus, and the Barents Sea in Norway.
Total’s major deepwater discovery offshore South Africa is now
opening a potential new wave of majors drilling in the area, hoping to find the
next billion-barrel discovery.