The Western Cape High Court has rescinded an environmental authorisation granted to TotalEnergies and its joint-venture partner Shell to explore for oil in a block off the Cape coast.
However, the court said TotalEnergies should be given a chance to rectify deficiencies identified, including a failure to properly assess the potential socioeconomic impacts of oil spills or take climate change into consideration.
“TotalEnergies must be afforded the opportunity to submit new or amended assessments to cure the deficiencies identified,” judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood said in her August 13 ruling.
A TotalEnergies spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The French company said last year it intended to exit the concession, Block 5/6/7 between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas, leaving the operatorship to Shell, with PetroSA holding a minority share.
The order is the latest in a series of court challenges between environmentalists and oil companies looking to explore along SA’s coast.
Oil companies are making a major push into the west coast of SA, where they are looking to replicate the success in neighbouring Namibia after a cluster of discoveries in its part of the prolific Orange Basin.
The basin extends into SA waters but has remained largely unexplored there.
Welcoming the judgment, nonprofit organisation (NPO) Natural Justice, one of the applicants in the case, said it was a victory in the growing opposition to oil and gas exploration in SA.
“This judgment again confirms companies must follow due process, undertake comprehensive assessments and provide communities with an opportunity to be heard,” Melissa Groenink-Groves, a programme manager at the group, said.
Reuters
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