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 SOUTH
AFRICA
South Africa
Due to former sanctions and its need for indigenous
energy offshore South Africa is relatively densely drilled in relation to its
prospectivity. Most exploration has been concentrated off the country’s
southern coast in Mossel Bay, offshore of Port Elizabeth. Here the
Outeniqua basin, (including the Pletmos and Bredasdorp sub-basins) is
the site of the country’s only production.
 South Africa’s first offshore well, drilled in 1968, was
a gas discovery in the Pletmos sub-basin but commercial
gas and condensate production did not begin until 1992 from Block 9 in the Bredasdorp sub-basin
for the Mossgas project, which converts gas to oil by a gas-to-liquids
process.
The Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa
(PetroSA) formerly Soekor, receives natural gas from several gas fields
including the linked FA, FAR, FAH, EM and EBF fields. The FA field
production platform peaked at a rate of 2 Bcm per year and 9,500 Bbls
per day of condensate in 1995. Nine wells have been drilled from the
platform, 4 wells on the FAR and FAH satellites, linked by subsea
systems and further wells in the EM and EBF fields connected by a 52 km
pipeline.
 The
fields supply to the synfuel plant through two 91 km pipelines and the
gas is converted into motor gasoline, distillates, kerosene, alcohols
and LPG. However, gas is now being imported from Mozambique.
The
undeveloped EBB gas/condensate field, discovered in 1991, is also in
Block 9 and two old discoveries, Ga-A (1969) and Ga-Q (1983) are located
on Block 11A, east of Block 9.
PetroSA also began oil production from Block 9 in 1997
from the Oribi field discovered in 1990. The Oribi oil field produces
through an FPSO. The Oryx oil field, 6 kms from the Oribi field, was
tied back to Oribi in May 2000.
The Sable field subsequently came onstream in August 2003
from six subsea wells tied back to a new FPSO. Associated gas is re-injected to improve liquids recovery. The
undeveloped Boomslang oil and gas discovery was made in the southern
part of Block 9 in 2001. A number of small gas/condensate discoveries
have also been made in the Orange basin on the west coast including the
70 Bcm Ibhubesi field which is close to the Kudu gas discovery in Namibian
waters.
Despite these small successes South Africa has been
unable to increase gas output. Since 1998 the country has been
trying to attract investors to its deep water areas on the west.
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