Majors pull out of flagship South African gas projects
Without a pipeline of developments in place, the country’s energy crisis is poised to worsen
South Africa’s energy ambitions suffered another setback with TotalEnergies’ recent decision to withdraw from a number of offshore blocks. These included the locations of Luiperd and Brulpadda, the two gas fields many saw as the most promising potential developments to help plug South Africa’s chronic energy shortages. TotalEnergies is withdrawing from Block 11B/12B—site of Luiperd and Brulpadda—and its 45% stake in the offshore asset, in addition to pulling out of blocks 5, 6 and 7. The French major acknowledged the Luiperd and Brulpadda gas discoveries but said it “could, however, not be turned into a commercial development as it appeared to be too challenging to economically develop and m

Also in this section
15 May 2025
Financial problems, lack of exploration success and political dogma cause uncertainty across much of the region
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference