Page 8 - AfrOil Week 43 2019

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
SAOGA chief raises questions about the future role of gas, LNG in IRP

SOUTH AFRICA
THE head of the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA) has raised questions about the role that natural gas will play in the imple- mentation of the government’s new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which will govern the pro- curement of power generation capacity during the period ending in 2030.
Niall Kramer, SAOGA’s executive direc- tor, indicated last week that he did believe the adoption of the IRP would prove beneficial to the country. He said that the plan would provide South Africa’s energy sector with the direction and certainty it needs, according to Africa Oil Week.
Kramer also commented, though, that the IRP appeared to envision a relatively low-profile role for gas, especially in the form of LNG, in the country’s future energy mix.
The plan anticipates that South Africa will ramp up efforts to explore for and develop domestic gas reserves, but it does not make detailed pro- visions for LNG imports, he explained.
He also called this lack of specificity with respect to LNG “surprising” but stressed that SAOGA was not yet in a position to draw con- clusions. Like all other parties involved in the energy sector, the group will need to review and discuss the IRP more thoroughly, he said. Until then, he remarked, “the devil remains in the details.”
Kramer further stated that he was particu- larly curious about the IRP’s approach to LNG
procurement models and related matter. He said he saw this as the most important issue in need of clarification, especially since the fulfil- ment of the plan will hinge on LNG imports.
In the IRP, he noted, South Africa’s Depart- ments of Energy and Mineral Resources state that they expect the country to gain 3,000 MW of new gas-fired power generation capacity by 2027, with the first 1,000 MW coming on stream by the end of 2023 and the remaining 2,000 MW following by the end of 2027.
LNG is sure to account for a sizeable portion of the gas used by these new facilities, and South Africa ought to take steps to make sure its ports can handle the additional volumes, he asserted. It is not clear, though, whether the government’s plan devotes adequate attention to the matter, he added.
Questions about the role of LNG will be especially important in Coega, he added. “Coega has been identified as the first port for LNG import infrastructure and a gas-to-power- plant programme, and we will need to see how LNG will be moved from Coega – probably in virtual tankers or by ship,” he said.
Kramer noted, though, that other ports also deserved attention. “Despite Coega being the preferred port of entry, Richards Bay has indicated a viability study is under way and Saldanha may still want to import LNG inde- pendently, meaning we could still have several ports importing LNG,” he commented.™
MAURITANIA
BP (UK) and its partner Kosmos Energy (US) have announced a significant natural gas find within the Orca section of a large offshore block that straddles the border between Senegal and Mauritania.
The two companies said on October 28 that they had discovered the gas by drilling the Orca-1 well at the block. Data from the well indi- cate that Orca holds 13tn cubic feet (368bn cubic metres) of gas initially in place (GIIP), they said.
Together, they added, the Orca and Mar- souin sites may hold as much as 50 tcf (1.42tn
cubic metres) of gas in the areas near BirAllah. This is more than enough to support an LNG production and export project, they said. BP has said it wants to build a new LNG hub with a pro- duction capacity of 10mn tonnes per year (tpy) not far from BirAllah.
Details
The UK-based company and Kosmos have teamed up with Mauritania’s national oil com-
pany (NOC), known as SMHPM, to explore and develop Orca. 
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
BP, Kosmos find large gas reserves offshore Mauritania
P8
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 43 30•October•2019