TotalEnergies to exit South Africa gasfield

South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, July 3, 2024 – TotalEnergies has notified South Africa’s oil and gas regulator that it plans to exit the 11B/12B offshore gasfield, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

A source told Bloomberg that the move is intended to free up resources to concentrate on other exploration in the area, including Namibia.

The report cited a source at regulatory body Petroleum Agency SA and described the move as a “blow” to South Africa.

The French company discovered the two gasfields in 2019, and their development was anticipated to supply an idled gas-to-liquids refinery at Mossel Bay on the country’s south coast. However, discussions on the price of the gas had stalled for years, the report said.

The 45,000-bpd facility has been idled since 2020. As of May, around half of South Africa’s refining capacity had been idled.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that a deal under which a unit of Russian gas giant Gazprom will restore operations at the refinery had reached the feasibility study stage.

For its part, TotalEnergies continues with E&P activities elsewhere in South Africa. In March, the company and partner QatarEnergy together acquired a majority stake in an exploration licence in South Africa’s portion of the prolific Orange Basin, where the French player has seen success with its Venus discovery on the Namibian side.

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