MOSSEL BAY NEWS - When Agence Ecofin reported that Total would start exploration work in December with a drilling programme expected to take three to four months, depending on weather conditions, unemployed locals with extensive international rig experience complained that despite accepted protocols for local employment, no job opportunities on the rig were advertised for the people of Mossel Bay.
"All legislation applicable to any drilling programme is covered under a company's work programme submission to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) as per the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Act. This work programme has requirements in terms of BBEEE, supplier development and skills and training, but is not necessarily applied locally, that is, specifically in Mossel Bay. So Total would have been 100% compliant with their requirements in terms of local for South Africa, otherwise, they would not have been able to drill, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Opportunities in the Western Cape, Bianca M Capazorio said.
Local labour unhappy
She responded to the unhappiness expressed by locals about the lack of job opportunities on the Deepsea Stavanger. The well is located in Block 11B/12B, where Total Exploration & Production SA is the operator and is in a joint venture with Canadian Natural Resources International and Qatar Petroleum.
Previous attempts to drill at Brulpadda were abandoned because of the harsh, deepwater environment. Now, the technologically advanced Deepsea Stavanger, designed for operations in harsh environments and at water depths of up to 3 000 metres, is used.
Capazorio said: "We know that Total undertook and issued (in South Africa) a comprehensive scope of supplier works for this project in order to procure as locally as possible (although labour procurement was not included in this).
"In terms of international health and safety regulations, as well as insurance requirements, anyone working on-board a drilling rig during a drilling operation would be employed directly by the rig owner which Total commissioned. No temporary work placements are considered during a work programme in general."
Team environment
Many of the drilling operators and service providers undergo days of interviews when looking for suitable candidates, the reason being that they will be required to live in close quarters for weeks, often under extreme circumstances, and would need to fit in well with the team.
In this case, it is not about the employment of locals or skills, but rather how they fit into a specific team environment.
Saldanha
A repair/refurbishment of a drilling rig is a totally different consideration, however. In this case, the drilling rig is a new-generation vessel and South African ports cannot currently handle any repair/refurbishment on these vessels – hence the need to build Berth 205 in the Port of Saldanha Bay.
Similarly, once a permanent offshore platform (as an example) is established following a production well(s) then there would most likely be South African employees working on the platform.
"The Western Cape Government is working on meeting the future skills demand for the oil and gas and marine space but has no control over work programmes.
"We believe that the Total announcement is a major opportunity for South Africa and for the region, which, going forward, has the ability to provide opportunities for people across the oil and gas industry skills set, as well as for the development of further skills, locally," Capazorio said.
"During the height of the rig repair market in Cape Town, Saldanha Bay and Coega when the oil price was $100 plus (2012-2014), if we had more than two rigs undertaking major refurbishment or repair contracts, SA could not supply sufficient labour in terms of qualified and highly skilled workers and we had to use welders from other countries.
"SAOGA is also in the process of developing a professional body for the Oil & Gas industry, which once up and running will provide a platform for discussions around skills and labour.
"SAOGA did approach Total to offer local services and this was taken up wherever possible by the operator. This is not the first time they have drilled in South Africa and they used a lot of their previously approved South African suppliers."
Jonathan Markham, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company was quoted in internationalfinance.com as saying the geology in the Brulpadda area is very complex and it is in a harsh deep water environment. Projects such as Ikhwezi and Ibhubesi have undergone delays and reserve write-downs due to these difficulties.
He said compared to other nearby gas discoveries that face significant delays, such as the Kudu development in Namibia or the giant fields in Mozambique and Tanzania, Brulpadda would be able to tap into a pre-existing local market where the infrastructure and demand is already present.
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