NEWS: Zuma: Government wants 30 wells in 10 years for oil exploration

President Jacob Zuma outlined ambitious plans on Wednesday for oil and gas exploration in coastal waters that he said could contain as much as nine-billion barrels of crude and vast quantities of natural gas.

In a speech to senior South African and Malaysian officials in Durban, Zuma said the government wanted 30 exploration wells drilled in the next 10 years.

“Over the next 20 years, this could lead to the production of 300 000 barrels of oil and gas per day,” Zuma said, adding that the industry needed a legislative framework that would benefit both South Africa and participating firms.

But he stressed there was “significant uncertainty” about the extent of hydrocarbon resources in South Africa’s waters, some of the last unexplored stretches of the continent’s energy-rich coastline.

Much of the exploration effort is being spurred by the recent discovery of massive natural gas reserves off the coast of neighbouring Mozambique and Tanzania.

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