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DMITRE seeks comment on SA unconventional roadmap

The roadmap aims to inform stakeholders and sets the course for environmentally sustainable development of SA’s large endowment of unconventional gas. The roadmap transparently lays out the factors that will be taken into account in considering whether or not to approve unconventional gas projects so as to ensure compatibility with co-existing natural, social and economic environments.

The roadmap states that the development of unconventional gas is proving to be positively transformational for North American economies and Australia is a first mover in developing shallow CSG as feedstock for LNG export. In addition, when developed to leading practice standards for well integrity, gas is a much less carbon intensive fuel (than coal) for electricity supplies.

The progress already made with the development of unconventional gas is underpinned by significant technological advances and the emergence of export LNG markets. Most recently, supply-side competition in North America is seeing a shift to unconventional gas resources that also contain petroleum liquids to cushion the commerciality of projects.

The roadmap states “Given these investment drivers, more than 20 companies/joint ventures are now focusing on exploring unconventional gas plays with giant discovery potential in SA. This is in addition to exploration for conventional oil and gas plays in proven producers and the state’s frontier basins. With such diversification, the chance at least one of these unconventional gas plays will lead to a major discovery is high. Realistic expectations are held for economic success in one or more of SA’s unconventional gas plays, and each of at least nine plays has potential to yield at least one giant gas field, that can underpin domestic gas, export LNG and/or synthetic transport fuel (synfuel) supplies from SA.”?

New sections of the final draft roadmap include key findings and recommendations for unconventional gas developments in SA.

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