South African oil group seeks to amend new law to woo investors
Some oil explorers are “not satisfied” with South Africa’s long-awaited rules for the industry that were signed into law last month by President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to a lobby group.
The Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act published on Oct. 29 includes regulations for the ownership of oil and gas blocks and their development. The law has been anticipated for years as Shell Plc and other companies delayed activity or withdrew completely from South African acreage, citing regulatory uncertainty.
“It is great that we are moving toward legislative certainty as a country,” though neighboring countries “have done much better,” Adrian Strydom, executive director of the South African Oil & Gas Alliance, said in response to questions. “Some of the SAOGA member companies are not satisfied with the terms of the legislation,” he said, without giving details.
Oil majors have been developing gas projects in Mozambique and recent crude discoveries in Namibia sparked a surge of activity in the waters north of South Africa’s maritime border. Over the last few years companies have also encountered legal battles with environmental groups that have successfully blocked exploration.
“SAOGA will continue to lobby for a more investor-friendly legislative and regulatory environment,” Strydom said. “We may well require an amendment to the law to create greater clarity, improve ease of doing business, and to increase investor attractiveness.”
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
South Africa has virtually no commercial oil production and relies on imports and synthetic products to meet its fuel needs. The most industrialized nation on the continent also plans to build terminals for liquefied natural gas imports.
Comments
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
The SAIMM started as a learned society in 1894 after the invention of the cyanide process that saved the South African gold mining industry of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
