South Africa to align energy plans with SADC gas master plan

Energy Minister Jeff Radebe has promised greater alignment between South Africa’s energy plans, including the new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity, with a regional gas master plan, which is currently under development within the 16-country Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc.

The plan would include gas-to-power projects, which Radebe said could complement South Africa’s variable renewable-energy plants. In the medium-term, South Africa would also include cross-border gas and gas-to-power into its various energy plans. 

It would also be critical for projects to be facilitated downstream of the exploration and production sector, which had become increasingly vibrant. In fact, it was expected that, between 2018 and 2025, up to US$413 billion would be invested in 93 oil and gas projects.

Engineering News, 26 June 2018

Radebe initiates bilaterals with Moz and Namibia on cross-border gas prospects

Energy Minister Jeff Radebe initiated bilateral discussions with Mozambique this week regarding the further development of the cross-border gas infrastructure linking South Africa’s energy and chemicals sectors to Mozambique’s vast natural gas resources.

Radebe indicated that his initial discussions with Deputy Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Augusto de Sousa Fernando had focused on taking the partnership that had already existed between the two countries through the Rompco pipeline to “the next level”.

The Minister also endorsed the development of a Regional Gas Masterplan, as well as the harmonisation of the policy and regulatory framework to promote gas trading and infrastructure development. 

Engineering News, 27 June 2018 

Oranto Petroleum makes Zambian oil and gas exploration debut 

Pan-African oil and gas exploration and development group Oranto Petroleum has started farming into two exploration blocks located onshore in Zambia.

“Oranto Petroleum is committed to an aggressive work programme to increase the level of prospectivity in one of the world’s last true frontier markets,” says Oranto chairperson Prince Aurthe Eze.

He adds that the company is committed to developing Zambia into an oil and gas producing nation, as it has done in other countries in Africa.

Engineering News, 28 June 2018 

Mozambique eyes growth from gas

Mozambique has moved closer to becoming a player on the fast-growing global market for liquefied natural gas, eight years after the first major deep-water discovery there. The development of hydrocarbon resources is crucial for the country, liquefied natural gas projects offer a way to stimulate growth. 

Exxon Mobil and Eni said they had started marketing gas that would be produced from the planned Rovuma liquefied natural gas project. The companies expect to make a final decision on whether to proceed with the onshore plant in 2019.

Business Day, 29 June 2018 

Power Africa Gas Roadmap outlines ambitious 2030 target

The U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Power Africa Coordinator launched a Gas Roadmap for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), outlining an additional 16 000 MW of gas-fired power by 2030. 

USAID notes that “Power Africa's Gas Roadmap estimates U.S. companies could invest in, or compete for, US$175 billion worth of gas power projects in SSA, with the potential for at least US$5 billion of U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas by 2030".

This report focuses on nine countries, which have been strategically selected: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique and Tanzania.

“We estimate that these countries hold the potential for around 16 000 MW (86%) of new gas-fired power generation projects through 2030," says USAID. 

ESI Africa, 29 June 2018

The above reflects a summary of certain news articles published during the preceding week.

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