Page 15 - AfrOil Week 48 2022

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

“In South Africa, TotalEnergies is positioning
itself as a player in the evolution of the country’s
energy mix as part of the necessary transition
from coal to renewable energies and gas,” she
said.
She continued: “South Africa’s economy is
still predominantly coal-based, accounting for
80% of its current electricity generation. Access
to energy, and in particular meeting the grow-
ing demand for electricity, is a major concern in
South Africa, where load-shedding and power
cuts have been almost a daily occurrence for
nearly 15 years and where air pollution from
fine particles linked to coal burning is frequent.”
However, the Block 5/6/7 project has
repeatedly attracted the same kind of negative
attention and protests that have led other inter-
national oil companies (IOCs) to suspend drill- The drilling programme covers a section of Block 5/6/7 (Image: SLR)
ing projects in South Africa’s offshore zone.
For instance, Janet Solomon, the co-founder Meanwhile, Greenpeace Africa spokesper-
of an environmental coalition known as Oceans son Chris Vlavianos has said that he expects the
Not Oil, is one of multiple non-governmental scheme to disrupt local fishing industries, and
organisations (NGOs) that have blasted the some local community leaders have complained
plan and argued that South Africa should not they did not receive adequate notice of the pub-
be encouraging any oil and gas exploration at all. lic meetings held in late November. ™

Tanzania’s Ruvuma PSA revised to

facilitate faster gas development

TANZANIA SHAREHOLDERS in the Ruvuma licence area heads TPDC.
in southern Tanzania have revised their produc- Charlie Santos, Aminex’s executive chair-
tion-sharing agreement (PSA) with the aim of man, expressed satisfaction with the adoption
accelerating the development of their natural gas of the revisions to the PSA. “We are delighted
resources as much as possible. that another essential stage in developing the
According to a statement from Aminex (Ire- Ruvuma asset has been reached,” he said.
land), a non-operating shareholder in Ruvuma, “The signing ceremony was a tangible sign
project operator ARA Petroleum Tanzania of the Government of Tanzania’s strong com-
Ltd (APT), a subsidiary of ARA Petroleum of mitment to the Ruvuma project, highlighting
Oman, and its partners signed an addendum to their diligent effort to increase energy produc-
the PSA in Dar es Salaam on November 25. The tion, a cornerstone of the country’s economic
changes aim to accelerate upstream production development.
work at Ntorya, the biggest gas field within the “The Ruvuma PSA addendum is just the
Ruvuma PSA. latest demonstration of the determination of
However, they will also facilitate the con- all parties to work constructively and rapidly
struction of a 30-km pipeline linking the Ntorya together to advance this significant project
field to an existing processing and pumping sta- for the further development of the Tanzanian
tion at Madimba. According to previous reports, energy sector.”
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. APT is now slated to spud the Chikumbi-1
(TPDC), the national oil company (NOC), will (CH-1) well at Ntorya in March 2023 and hopes
build the pipe. to begin production in early 2024. The cost of
At the signing ceremony, Tanzania’s Energy the ongoing work programme may run up to
Minister January Makamba said his country’s $140mn by then, and Aminex’s carried share of
government was determined to bring Ntorya’s the total comes to $35mn.
gas resources on stream as soon as possible. Equity in the Ruvuma block is currently
Accelerating upstream development work on split between APT (50%), AIM-listed Scirocco
the Ruvuma project will play a key role in ensur- Energy (25%) and Aminex (25%). Ntorya, the
ing the coverage of the country’s short- to medi- main field at Ruvuma, may hold as much as 3bn
um-term gas needs, added Makamba, who also cubic feet (84.96 mcm) of gas. ™

Week 48 01•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15