Total Commissions Massive Oil and Gas Rig in Cape Town

“The arrival of the drill rig, following the recent successful Brulpadda discovery, reaffirms confidence in South Africa as an investment destination of choice for the exploration of oil and gas.

“This is despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on economies around the world,” he said.

The rig is part of Total’s $400 million (R6.9 billion) oil and gas exploration drilling campaign, R1.5 billion of which is to be spent in South Africa. This involves spending on hospitality, off-shore services and equipment, as well as recruiting and contracting local businesses to support the drilling program.

It is expected the drilling project will last between 180 and 300 days.

“The investment will further enable South Africa to diversify its energy mix, as envisioned in the Integrated Resources Plan, by using all the primary energy resources that the country is endowed with, including gas,” said Mantashe.

“Government will be supporting this project by finalising the Upstream Petroleum Bill which aims to strike a balance between the need to attract investment into this key sector of the economy, and ensuring that oil and gas activities do not happen at the expense of the environment and water resources.”

Brulpadda Discovery

Total revealed that it had made a major gas-condensate discovery 175 kilometers off the southern coast of South Africa in February 2019. The Brulpadda well (‘Bullfrog well’) situated off the shore of Mossel Bay is one of the highly expected exploration opportunities for the business.

Total has previously stated that the oil field could approximately hold between 500 million barrels to over 1 billion barrels.

The Brulpadda well spans an area of 19,000 square kilometres, with water depths ranging from 200 to 1,800 metres, and is operated by Total with a 45% working interest, alongside Qatar Petroleum (25%), CNR International (20%) and Main Street, a South African consortium (10%).