A joint venture agreement was signed by Sasol and Origin Energy Ltd. to explore for coal-bed methane (CBM) in Botswana.

The joint venture, through Sasol Petroleum International Pty. Ltd., will be known as Kubu Energy Resources (Pty.) Ltd.“Kubu” means hippopotamus in Setswana, the language of Botswana.

Sasol and Origin will jointly acquire three prospecting licenses -- PL134/2010, PL135/2010 and PL136/2010 -- from Sekaname (Pty.) Ltd., a local, CBM-exploration company, based in Gaborone. The transaction is subject to final approval by the Botswana government.

The three prospecting licenses cover approximately 3,000 sq km and are located in the central province of Botswana. The joint venture partners plan to conduct a number of exploration activities during the next two years to determine the quantity of natural gas available and the feasibility for future commercial development. The first phase of the exploration will include an airborne magnetic survey, sampling of borehole cores and the drilling of test wells.

If the first exploration phase proves successful, the joint venture partners will consider committing to a more extensive exploration program in Botswana.

A discovery of large volumes of CBM in Botswana could be used to generate power and manufacture liquid-fuels in southern Africa.