South Africa is reviving offshore oil and gas exploration plans that date back to the apartheid era, as the country looks to bolster energy security and draw fresh investment into its upstream sector amid shifting global energy markets. Advances in offshore drilling technology and growing appetite for African hydrocarbon prospects have prompted a fresh look at the potential locked in the country’s largely untapped basins, particularly along its west and south coasts. Interest has been sharpened by recent discoveries in neighbouring Namibia’s Orange Basin.
South Africa has long depended on coal for power generation even as renewable energy expansion has picked up pace in recent years, and officials argue that developing domestic oil and gas resources could diversify the energy mix, cut import reliance and support industrial growth. The government is working on regulatory reforms meant to give exploration companies greater investment certainty. Supporters say new discoveries could create jobs and strengthen energy security, but environmental groups and some communities have voiced concern over the potential impact on marine ecosystems and the country’s climate commitments, leaving Pretoria to balance energy security, growth and its clean-energy transition.
Source: angolanminingoilandgas.com