Major Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa

Major Project and Exploration Activity is expected to dominate the oil and gas industry:

  • South Africa Offshore: Exploration activity off the coast of South Africa is expected to ramp in the next 18 to 24 months with many upstream exploration companies commencing with approval processes for offshore exploration.
  • South Africa Onshore: Coal Bed Methane exploration activity continues in South Africa. Shale Gas exploration, following appropriate approvals from stakeholders, could commence in the next few years.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa Offshore: Offshore activity in West Africa is expected to continue, while significant growth is expected from offshore activity in East Africa.
  • Refineries:
    • Clean fuel technology upgrades of crude refineries and gas-to-liquid refinery
    • Mthombo Oil Refinery located at the port of CEOGA. Feasibility Studies are being conducted for the crude oil refinery and import terminal.
  • Terminals:
    • Oil – Oiltanking MOGS Saldanha Crude storage and blending terminal
    • Oil/Gas – New Fuels/LPG Terminal in Richard’s Bay - Vopak
    • Gas – LNG Import Terminal to feed PetroSA
    • LPG Import Terminal – Sunrise Energy
  • Liquefaction:
    • LNG Liquefaction – Palma Mozambique

These projects have the potential to create significant bottlenecks in the local oil and gas industry as the industry already faces key challenges with respect to planning, local participation, infrasture and skills to deliver on these projects. SAOGA is working to obtain information to establish how best to deal with some of the challenges related to delivery on these projects.