INTERVIEW: PETROLEUM AGENCY SA
Focus is on supporting exploration activities to accelerate discoveries SA Business Integrator spoke to Dr Phindile Masangane, Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum Agency SA, about the agency’s mandate and development plans. Petroleum Agency SA promotes exploration for onshore and offshore oil and gas resources and their optimal development on behalf of government. Please give us some more details about the agency’s mandate. PASA has three main functions: The first is to attract
special projects, as directed by government. From the above, it is clear that the Agency is the regulator for South Africa’s oil and gas upstream industry. However, the Agency by no means sees its role as only reactive. On the contrary, it is one that is proactive, and the Agency’s purpose is to facilitate
investment to South Africa’s oil and gas upstream
and regulate oil and gas exploration to achieve
industry, in other words, investment into exploration and
production of indigenous oil and gas. This will
production of oil and gas in South Africa. We have a
ensure energy security and bolster economic growth
team of geologists and geophysicists who interpret data
and play a strong role in addressing the eradication
gathered through past exploration activity to determine
of poverty on South Africa.
the viability of prospecting and use this to attract exploration companies to South Africa. The second function is to regulate the upstream
What are the Agency’s focus and development plans for 2021?
industry in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum
South Africa’s upstream oil and gas industry is still
Resources Development Act, its regulations and other
at its infancy in spite of the country having excellent
applicable legislation. The Agency has staff responsible
petroleum resource prospectivity. In 2021, we want
for ensuring legal, technical and environmental
to focus on supporting our operators to accelerate
compliance as organisations enter into contracts with
their exploration activities so that we can have
the state to explore for oil and gas.
more discoveries. We will also be supporting Total
The third function is to act as the national archive
and its JV partners to efficiently move to the next
for all data and information produced during oil and
stage of their programme following the discoveries
gas exploration and production in South Africa, and to
in Brulpadda and Luiperd. It is of paramount
curate and maintain this data for use and distribution.
importance to the Agency that we move to the
Other functions include advising government on any issues pertinent to oil and gas as well as carrying out any
next era in terms of upstream oil and gas industry development.
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