PRETORIA, July 6. /TASS/. South African authorities have received assurances from French energy group TotalEnergies that it will not withdraw from projects to develop large natural gas deposits in the country's southern shelf. This was announced by the representative of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, Tulebona Nxumalo, adding that the South African country held consultations with TotalEnergies after information appeared in the media about the group's intention to leave the Brulpadda and Luiperd gas projects.
„We contacted TotalEnergies for clarification and the company replied that it initially planned to withdraw from these projects but after negotiations with the South African government and other stakeholders decided to stay, Nxumalo was quoted as saying on local news portal News 24. “Everything suggests that TotalEnergies will remain in the Brulpadda project.“
At the beginning of July ag. Bloomberg reported, citing its sources, that TotalEnergies intends to withdraw from projects to develop deepwater gas fields in South Africa's southern shelf. On July 1, the Canadian company Canadian Natural Resources, which has a 20% stake in them, announced its withdrawal from the Brulpadda and Luiperd projects. The license issued by the South African government for the exploration and development of two zones in the Brulpadda and Luiperd fields does not provide for the sale of their interests by the participants; they must be distributed among the partners who will remain in the project. The decision must be made by them within 30 days from the date of withdrawal from the projects of one of the participants. Now the French group has 45% in the capital of both projects.
In 2019, TotalEnergies discovered the largest gas condensate field in this part of Africa - Brulpadda, with reserves of 1 billion barrels, on the southern shelf of South Africa. A year later, its specialists discovered another deep-sea deposit of gas condensate Luiperd near it. Total exploration costs cost TotalEnergies USD 400 million.
The fields are located in the area where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet, which is characterized by very strong currents, which creates significant technical difficulties in gas production. According to estimates, the development of the Brulpadda deposit requires an investment of USD 3 billion.
There is currently no major natural gas field to be developed in South Africa. The country mainly imports it from Mozambique and Qatar. Meanwhile, the government intends to switch a significant part of the existing thermal power plants from coal to gas, which will significantly increase the country's need for it.