Successful Luiperd hunt boosts South African gas hopes

Second major discovery improves prospects for bringing gas to market but is no panacea

Successful flow testing of South Africa’s Luiperd gas discovery towards the end of last year was more good news for the prospects of developing the discoveries so far in the country’s offshore block 11B/12B. But the challenges of finding customers and political risk remain. During November testing, the Luiperd 1-X well reached a maximum constrained flowrate of 33mn ft³/d (0.9mn m³/d) of gas and 4,320bl/d of condensate, an aggregate of c.9,820bl/d oe. But the absolute open flow potential of the well is expected to be significantly higher, according to Canadian-listed Africa Energy, a junior 4.5pc partner in the block. Consultancy IHS Markit sees Luiperd reserves in excess of 1bn bl oe, potent