Page 12 - AfrOil Week 29 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

South Africa makes draft fracking

bill available for public comment

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s government has made new as Shell (UK), Falcon Oil & Gas (Ireland) and
draft legislation covering the exploration and Sasol (South Africa).
development of unconventional hydrocarbon Nevertheless, South African geologists have
resources available for public comment, against continued to study the basin. Researchers from
a backdrop of widespread domestic electricity University of Johannesburg and three other
shortages resulting in frequent load shedding. academic institutions gave 13 trillion cubic feet
In a statement on the draft bill on July 13, (368bn cubic metres) of gas as a lowball esti-
South Africa’s Department of Environment, mate for the Karoo’s gas reserves in 2017, and
Forestry and Fisheries indicated that the govern- Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told mem-
ment had attempted to address the environmen- bers of Parliament last year that teams from the
tal concerns that helped derail previous attempts state-sponsored Council for Geoscience (CGS)
to promote the exploration of the Karoo shale had encountered shale gas during a series of
basin. ongoing tests in the basin.
It stressed that the new legislation would For its part, the South African government is
require investors to secure environmental keen on unconventional gas, as it sees the Karoo
authorisation at each stage of upstream work, basin as another potential means of diversifying
including seismic surveys that did not involve the country’s energy mix and increasing elec-
hydraulic fracturing (fracking), as well as oper- tricity supplies. ™
ations that did involve fracking.
“The regulations identify prohibited activ-
ities and prohibited geographic areas for the
use of hydraulic fracturing technology, which
include the use of potable water for hydraulic
fracturing activities and the use of municipal
water treatment facilities for the disposal of
wastes from hydraulic fracturing operations,”
the statement said.
The draft bill is designed to replace regu-
lations that South Africa’s Supreme Court of
Appeal set aside four years ago. The court took
this step in response to a slew of legal challenges
filed by farmers and environmental groups on
the grounds that the older rules did not provide
adequate protection for the ecosystems of the
Karoo basin, a semi-arid region that lies south
of the Kalahari Desert.
The lawsuits had served to dampen the ini-
tial enthusiasm about the Karoo’s prospectivity
among international oil companies (IOCs) such Estimates of the Karoo’s potential attracted Shell and other IOCs (Image: ARI)

Kenya’s president authorises

additional $141mn fuel subsidy

KENYA KENYAN President Uhuru Kenyatta has The East African state has spent over $860m
authorised the release of an additional fuel on fuel subsidies over the past year. Petroleum
subsidy of KES16.675bn ($141mn) to cushion product prices have been as global crude oil
his country’s citizens from the impact of rising markets have turned more bullish, especially
prices for gasoline, diesel and kerosene. since the invasion of Ukraine in late February.

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 20•July•2022