French oil major TotalEnergies has notified South Africa’s petroleum regulator that it intends to withdraw from its 11B/12B offshore gas field but has yet to submit a formal request to do so, a source at Petroleum Agency SA said.
TotalEnergies discovered the first of two large mainly gas finds in Block 11B/12B offshore the southern coast in 2019, and the withdrawal is a setback for South Africa which was banking on the gas potentially supplying an idle national gas-to-liquid refinery at Mossel Bay.
Talks over the gas price have stalled for years, while TotalEnergies has invested heavily to explore neighbouring Namibia, a global exploration hotspot since TotalEnergies, Shell and Galp hit new finds.
“The main reason (for the withdrawal) is the inability to secure a market for the gas,” the source told Reuters on Tuesday.
“They have not withdrawn their production right application (to 11B/12B),” added the source, who was not authorised to speak to the media.
Reuters
