Scientist concerned as drill rig to arrive in Bay

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay residents have mixed feelings about a massive oil and gas drill rig called the DeepSea Stavanger that arrived in Cape Town this week from Norway and is expected to arrive in Mossel Bay today, Friday 21 August.

The rig forms part of the Luiperd prospect off the coast of Mossel Bay and weighs about 44 000 tons.

It has, according to Total, the potential for the extraction of one billion barrels of gas condensate - "wet gas" which contains some oil.

The DeepSea Stavanger can cope with strong currents and drill a well of about 3 600 metres deep. The prospect is in the same Block, 11B/12B, where the Brulpadda discovery was made. The block spans 19 000 square kilometres, with water depths ranging from 200 to 1 800 metres.

The South African government has welcomed the DeepSea Stavanger and in a statement, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, said the arrival of the drill rig reaffirmed confidence in South Africa as an investment destination of choice for the exploration of oil and gas.

Western Cape MEC of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier told the Mossel Bay Advertiser this week that the arrival of the drill rig was an exciting development for the South African oil and gas industry and a symbol of the investment to be shared by the local and regional economy in the Garden Route and Western Cape.

Concerns
But, environmental groups have raised their concerns about the pollution risk posed by the difficult sea conditions in the proposed drilling area.

The Rescue Vleesbaai Action Group (REVAG) said the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico served as a terrible demonstration of this danger.

Chairman and scientist, Dr Fritz Snyckers, said it appeared the ocean current and wave height conditions in the proposed drilling area were more severe than in the Gulf of Mexico and may pose an even greater risk of oil/gas spillage.

"We don't have a problem with the drilling itself. We have a problem with the high risk at which it will be done."

Total had to cancel an initial drilling attempt in 2014 when it tried to drill Brulpadda but had to abandon it because of mechanical failures caused by the rough environment.

Risks
Dave van der Spuy from Petroleum Agency South Africa described the second attempt as an incredible achievement in terms of engineering and in terms of taking a risk and it is exactly that risk that concerns environmentalists.

Snyckers said the prevailing south-easterly and easterly winds in summer would rapidly drive any surface pollution towards the Southern Cape coast and thus pose a significant risk to the South Coast, Mossel Bay and the whole Garden Route. "This threat is not adequately addressed in the scoping report."

Snyckers said Total should extend the duration of its oil study of 20 days and said the Deepwater Horizon spill lasted five months.

"The description of 'modelled surface and shoreline oiling results' gives no indication as to the depth and thoroughness, nor of the 'assumptions, modelling parameters and any limitations' of these planned investigations."

He said REVAG considered these omissions critical. "The pollution resulting from a prolonged oil/gas spill could be catastrophic to our area and would have severe and long lasting effects on fauna, flora, people and their livelihoods."

A second point of concern to REVAG are the proposed transport and processing of the oil/gas obtained from the drilling.

Snyckers said these activities were not described in any detail, but may well pose a separate set of environmental threats. "These activities need to be more fully described and the determination of any associated pollution risks must form a part of the scoping. It is also of great importance to determine whether these activities will require any new coastal infrastructure and, if so, what the nature of such infrastructure is and where it will be located."

Job creation
Meanwhile, the oil and gas exploration drilling campaign, which is expected to be 180 to 300 days long, will see R1.5 billion invested in the South African economy.

Spokesperson for Maynier, Francine Higham, says 43 on-shore positions have been filled by South Africans from Mossel Bay in a wide range of positions, including seven women who have been specifically appointed as part of a continued skills transfer programme.

Mossel Bay municipal manager, Adv Thys Giliomee, said the municipality was looking forward to working closely with Total. "Although it is currently an exploration process, Mossel Bay is confident that the preparatory work will be successful and that it will eventually contribute to the existing petrochemical industry in our area."

* The Mossel Bay Advertiser sent questions to Total. Its spokesperson said Total was planning to provide comment, but needed to clear its answers with relevant stakeholders in Paris. Comment from Total is expected within a few days.

"Oil comes with a lot of risks," Greenpeace said in a statement regarding the drilling planned offshore of the Southern Cape. Photo: Cornelle Carstens

One of the supply vessels of the DeapSea Stavanger. MEC David Maynier and other interested parties were present when the rig arrived in Cape Town this week.