Petroleum bill - old wine in a new bottle
Regulatory scheme remains modelled on mining principles
Much anticipation awaited the release of the draft Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill on Christmas Eve after a one-year gestation by the department of mineral resources & energy. The long-awaited bill is intended to create a new regulatory framework for the exploration and extraction of both onshore and offshore oil and gas.
This underdeveloped sector has long been viewed by the government as a potential economic destiny-changer. In 2014, during the Zuma administration's Operation Phakisa (Sotho for "hurry up"), it was estimated that SA's territorial waters sit atop 9-billion barrels of oil (40 years' worth of national consumption) and 11-billion barrels of natural gas (375 years' worth of consumption)...
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