The national petroleum authority announced on Tuesday that TotalEnergies has submitted its production license application for Block 11B/12B offshore of South Africa before a deadline passed and the oil company may have lost its chance to develop the enormous discovery.
The Petroleum Agency of South Africa said Reuters in an email that the application was submitted on Monday and “will be examined for completeness over the next 14 days.”
The agency’s CEO stated in March that the block would go back on the market if TotalEnergies did not submit its production license application by September, when its exploration licence expired.
The block’s development is viewed as a crucial pillar of SA’s plans for its gas energy, with the Luiperd prospect’s possible connection to an existing offshore platform operated by PetroSA via a subsea pipeline of less than 100 km.
Gas feedstock shortages have caused PetroSA’s 45,000 barrel per day gas-to-liquid refinery at Mossel Bay to almost completely cease operations.
QatarEnergy and Canadian Natural Resources are joint venture partners in Block 11B/12B with TotalEnergies.
