TotalEnergies and Shell are seeking to drill oil exploration wells off South Africa’s southwest coast months after two attempts to conduct seismic surveys in the country’s waters were thwarted by legal challenges.
TotalEnergies is seeking comments from “interested and affected” parties and has invited them to participate in public meetings on the proposed program, SLR Consulting Ltd., which has been contracted to conduct an environmental assessment, said in the notice dated April 19, seen by Bloomberg.
“The main purpose of the pre-application phase is to provide initial notification to stakeholders and specifically to identify and develop the stakeholder database for the project,” SLR said in a response to queries. This will ensure SLR has a comprehensive database for future stakeholder engagement and more information will be released in May, the company said.
Shell was blocked from carrying out a seismic survey off the country’s south coast in December after local communities took legal action against it, saying they hadn’t been consulted and the program may harm marine life and disrupt fishing.
Last month Searcher Seismic abandoned exploration off the west coast after a court-ordered it to halt activity. Still, in both cases, a later ruling could allow a resumption of exploration, though Searcher Seismic said it won’t return.
BLOOMBERG
