Sasol’s upstream subsidiary Sasol Petroleum International (SPI) has signed an exploration permit with the Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA) to explore for oil and gas off the country’s east coast.

The exploration rights permit to explore off the coast of the Kwazulu-Natal province was granted for an initial period of three years. The Durban and Zululand basins are of interest because they sit at the southern end of the Mozambique Channel, says Sasol, where significant discoveries have of course been made in recent years offshore Mozambique.

“This is Sasol’s first operated Exploration Right licence in South Africa for at least a decade,” said Ebbie Haan, Managing Director at SPI. He added that Sasol will ensure that a robust public consultation programme is implemented during the assessment phase and that stakeholders’ concerns will be addressed.

Offshore Mozambique Sasol has previously conducted three separate seismic surveys and drilled three wells.
In 2011 it was granted a Technical Co-operation Permit (TCP 032) to study and investigate the potential for hydrocarbons in an area covering 83,000 sq km.