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Last week, the French oil and gas giant Total made an important discovery concerning the prospects of Brulpadda, located in the Outeniqua basin, 175 km from the South coast of South Africa. The well – the first major discovery in deep waters off South Africa – was drilled by the company with the help of a new drill ship. After the initial discovery of 57 meters of gas condensate, the well was deepened to a final depth of 3,633 meters. Patrick Pouyanne, Managing Director of Total, said the discovery could contain one billion barrels of oil equivalent of gas and condensate resources.
Andrew Latham, vice president of global exploration at Wood Mackenzie, a natural resources consulting firm, said: "Even if the well is not an oil discovery, if Brulpadda turns out to be about as big as the estimated one billion barrels of oil equivalent resources, it will still be a game changer for South Africa. "
Kevin McLachlan, Vice President Exploration for Total, said, "We are very pleased to announce the discovery of Brulpadda, which was drilled in a challenging deep water environment.
"With this discovery, Total has opened a new world-clbad oil and gas market and is well positioned to test multiple prospects on the same block."
South African Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe also welcomed the discovery, saying it could attract more foreign investors.
He said: "It is interesting for our country that this discovery was made. This is potentially a major boost for the economy, and we welcome that as we continue to look for investments to grow our economy. "
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) echoed this claim: "This is an excellent first step for the country, which still depends on oil and gas imports despite the substantial reserves that are thought to be in its soils and its waters.
"The oil industry hopes that this will be a catalyst and an encouragement for all policymakers to create a business environment conducive to exploration and drilling activities in South Africa."
In 2018, crude oil production in South Africa averaged 2,000 barrels per day, the same level as the previous year, but significantly down from the November record of 58,000 barrels per day. 2003.
The country is experiencing a boom in the oil sector and is currently attracting significant interest from major oil and gas suppliers.
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, sought to significantly increase foreign investment in the country's economy after years of stagnation under the rule of his predecessor, Jacob Zuma.
BP and Shell have both announced their intention to expand their African footprint, the first production of the second phase of development of the West Nile Delta starting off the coast of Egypt.
When completed later this year, combined production of the three phases of the project is expected to reach nearly 1.4 billion cubic feet per day, or about one-fifth of current gas production in Egypt.
Bob Dudley, CEO of BP, said, "This important start-up company has benefited from the excellent working relationship between BP and the Egyptian government.
"With the release of the second phase of the West Nile Delta, BP has now safely launched 21 new major upstream projects over the past three years, enabling us to deliver 900,000 barrels of equivalent oil. oil per day by 2021. "
ExxonMobil also focused on Western and Southern Africa, taking equity positions in Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia and South Africa.
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