Promising recent resource finds in Mozambique (https://bit.ly/3qRtOle) and Namibia (https://bit.ly/3dplq9w) – as well as Cote d’Ivoire, Uganda and Tanzania – bode well for Africa’s future. Exploration is being pursued with renewed vigour, and the world’s energy companies are eyeing the continent with keen interest.

The potential for liquefied natural gas is especially attractive – as new liquefaction and regasification technologies have made LNG a competitive means of energy distribution. The recent finds also offer the promise of an LNG boom that could change the fortunes of many African nations, while also meeting their people’s energy needs – at lower environmental cost (https://bit.ly/3eX4mIl) than other hydrocarbons.

The key is unlocking these opportunities and providing the policy framework to enable them.

For South Africa, refining the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill (https://bit.ly/3qQzFr3) into a commercially competitive and certain Act would be a great step towards enabling these opportunities.

After that, another clear solution would be partnering with A-list international investing explorers, who come with their own balance sheets, skills, experience, and repetitional exposure to do the job.

Even while partnering with foreign organisations, SA can retain control of our resource wealth through the way we negotiate licence terms of (free) carry, tax rates, development commitments, tenure, skills readiness and harmonised regulations.

SA skills shortage

Such partnerships would present an opportunity to grow South Africa’s skills base in the oil and gas sector. Public-private partnerships are good way for South Africans to gain international qualifications. Trainees could be reskilled miners, artisans, and technicians in a declining industry or a younger tranche.

If we manage to attract A-list explorers, we can get some holes in the ground, drill for data and then make empirical, evidence-based decisions on future production viability.

Mozambique is an example of what can be achieved by partnering with international energy firms to unlock domestic resource potential. Our eastern neighbour is about to export Eni’s first offshore-platform cargoes (https://bit.ly/3BT5sOe), and the Cabo Delgado Total onshore plant operation in Afungi (https://bit.ly/3DCIqMZ) looks set to restart.

Billions have been invested, and analysts (https://bit.ly/3qOT4bS) are predicting that Namibia will become the next big oil and gas player on the global scene.

A recent discovery in the offshore Orange Basin of Namibia’s west coast will likely also yield billions for Namibia. Both Shell and Total’s consortia have massive Namibia finds at Venus1 and Graff1. Industry insiders are gushing with superlatives at what a game changer this find will be for Namibia. The find has been called the biggest ever (https://bit.ly/3xFH9kr) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The critical issue for South Africa is that this game-changing find is in the extreme south of Namibia’s territorial waters. Neighbouring offshore blocks in South African waters likely hold very similar potential.

Recent finds in the 11B/12B exploration block 175km off South Africa’s south coast already promise to be catalytic for South Africa. Properly developed, they could easily save PetroSA and give a massive boost to our economy, save forex, grow local business, and develop skills without depleting the fiscus.

But investors have other attractive global options. We need to ensure that South Africa becomes a practical investment destination compared to these rival opportunities.

What about renewables?

While we accelerate our move towards renewable energy, there remains a need to underpin the intermittency of wind and solar with reliable, dispatchable baseload power. We can do that with coal, as we do now. Or more economically, with around 30% fewer (https://bit.ly/3LpQwum) CO2 emissions by using liquified natural gas (LNG).

At a time when South Africa’s power-supply deficit has become self-evident, LNG also offers a short-term solution in that it can be imported, through the South African and Mozambican ports network, and plugged into pipeline infrastructure relatively quickly.

At the same time, we can continue expanding our encouraging PPP programme of rapidly expanding renewables, while also continuing with onshore and offshore exploration for domestic natural gas resources – of which there are already encouraging signs.

Perhaps unfortunately, the world will need oil and gas well beyond mid-century to meet all of its energy needs (https://bit.ly/3BTOcbV). And of these options, gas is the less harmful (https://bit.ly/3LpZc3P). Gas will enable renewables at lower environmental cost – granting us the medium-term energy independence to continue renewables investment. This is the “just transition” in practical action.

Realistically, fulfilling our energy needs means multiple generation and distribution technologies. In the short term, it will also sometimes be necessary to trade off climate commitments and energy provision. Here, LNG also offers a solution – the reliability of oil and coal, with smaller environmental impacts.

We must protect the planet and act responsibly. We must develop skills and transition to new-economy jobs. At the same time there is no material quality of life and industrial development without energy.

As the ANC elective conference approaches, the governing party would do well to consider that oil-and-gas exploration could also provide capex, infrastructure and thousands of jobs in the power sector – with even further downstream effects.

Right now, just under 10% of our power comes from renewables. The rest mainly from coal. While this is changing, shifting demand and investment from coal is not proving easy. The policy framework, Integrated Resource Plan, Gas Master Plan and related licensing and regulatory instruments all need rapid simplification and integration to make investment attractive and easy.

Investment flows to the markets that are attractive, certain and ready. The forthcoming Africa Oil Week (https://Africa-OilWeek.com)  in Cape Town will be a great opportunity for South Africa to prove we are indeed open for oil-and-gas business. We need international investment at scale – and LNG and oil and gas exploration can deliver this.