The mineral & petroleum resources department says a recent court judgment that set aside government’s authorisation for offshore drilling by energy major TotalEnergies hurts SA’s competitiveness.
The Western Cape high court last week dealt a blow to government efforts to explore for gas offshore from Mossel Bay, setting aside the granting of an environmental authorisation to TotalEnergies for offshore oil and gas exploration activities, remitting the matter back to the department.
“The department respects the judgment. However, it is concerned this outcome represents a setback for SA’s energy security imperatives,” the department said.
“While neighbouring countries are investing in successfully expanding their oil and gas potential, this ruling may negatively [affect] the country’s competitiveness in the region.
“The department remains committed to balancing environmental stewardship with the urgent need for sustainable energy development in SA.
“Oil and gas exploration has the potential to attract much-needed investment and create jobs.”
The department said it was studying the judgment and consulting with government’s legal representatives on the appropriate course of action, including the possibility of an appeal.
Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood found that the French oil and gas giant’s environmental impact report was flawed, did not properly consider the economic risk of an oil spill, failed to consider climate change and lacked proper public participation.
TotalEnergies, Shell and PetroSA are co-holders of the exploration right for the area delineated as block 5/6/7.
Several gas and oil exploration projects in SA have been blocked over similar concerns, as environmental groups take on energy majors and the government in high-stakes legal battles that pit environmental needs against economic needs.
Minister Gwede Mantashe earlier this year told the Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference in Cape Town of his frustration at the legal strategies deployed by environmental groups to block oil and gas projects in the country.
“Every time you touch oil or gas, you end up in court,” Mantashe said in March.
“Oil and gas have played second fiddle to other energy sources for far too long, and this has also resulted in foreign NGOs wanting to get involved,” he said. “Obviously, we must exploit them [fossil fuels].”
Mantashe has voiced his support for oil and gas exploration drilling across the Orange Basin, which stretches from the Namibian coast into SA waters and holds an estimated 3.5-billion barrels of potential recoverable oil.
Activists have argued that SA is lagging in its commitment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, which calls on countries to limit the rise in average global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
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