RE: Oil offshore west Afirca? South African oil production
South Africa produces a small amount of crude oil. Most of this is located offshore either in the Bredasdorp basin or near the maritime border with Namibia.
Block 9 in Bredasdorp contains three fields – Oribi, Oryx and Sable – which make up most of the country’s production.
PetroSA – South Africa’s national oil company – is the sole owner of Oribi and Oryx. Output from the two is declining, falling to 2,000 bpd in 2006 from 3,000 bpd the previous year.
The Oribi-Oryx production facility spent most of the year 2007-08 in Cape Town harbour undergoing essential five-year reclassification maintenance work, leaving the fields idle for most of the year.
The state-run firm has a 60% interest in Sable with US firm Pioneer Natural Resources holding the balance. Output from this field, whose peak production was over 30,000 bpd, has also fallen dramatically.
PetroSA reported its aggregate production from its South African assets for the 2007-08 financial year at 2.78 mn bbls, equivalent to 7,600 bpd
Eager to plug the gap between domestic supply and demand, the South African government launched a licensing round in 2007 for 30 off- and onshore blocks.
A fourth offshore licensing round was opened in March 2009 offering two previously unexplored offshore areas, the Orange Basin Deep Water licence area off the west coast, bordering Namibia, and the Tugela licence area off the east coast.
Overseas firms already operating in South Africa’s upstream sector include BHP Billiton, the UK’s Q Venture Development and US outfit Forest Oil.
The rest of the country’s oil needs are met by import and its extensive synthetic liquids industry, which produces 160,000 bpd of synthetic oil from coal and natural gas.
South Africa also imports some of its gas needs, with the lion’s share coming via the Mozambique to South Africa Natural Gas Project.
Realted article: The East Africa question