MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe on Friday, 23 October, visited the rig, the DeepSea Stavanger to monitor progress with the proposed drilling campaign.

The oil and gas drill rig arrived in Mossel Bay in August this year to drill the Luiperd prospect in Block 11B/12B off the Southern Cape coast.

This is a continuation of a discovery of gas and condensate in the Brulpadda project, which was announced in 2019.

In a press release Mantashe noted: "We are encouraged by the progress made.

"This is an important project in SA. We are excited about the operation, which brings the much-needed investment in South Africa's upstream petroleum sector. This augers well for our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

"We believe a successful project in the area will support our initiatives to revitalise our National Petroleum Company, PetroSA."

The press release states that through this project, South Africa will benefit from R1.5 billion which will be spent on the hospitality industry; aviation and logistics services; training and contracting of local companies to support the drilling programme.

"The discovery of Oil and Gas in SA will be the game changer. We are working with the necessary speed to finalise the Upstream Petroleum Development Bill in order to unlock our country's untapped potential in the upstream oil and gas reserves," Mantashe said.

It is claimed in the press release the drilling campaign has employed 195 South African professionals with a variety of specialised skills, ranging from drilling engineers to aviation and marine specialists, petroleum geologists and physical oceanographers.

"South Africa needs more investment in such projects to grow our economy. We also need more young people to be involved," Minister Mantashe concluded.

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