South Africa pins hopes on deep water

SOUTH AFRICA is a minor oil and gas producer, but Petroleum Agency SA (PASA), the upstream regulator, hopes growing interest in frontier offshore acreage will soon boost the country's reserves and production profile. Crude production amounts to just 39,000 barrels a day (b/d) – all from offshore fields. Block 9's Oribi and Oryx fields, owned and operated by the state's PetroSA, produce a combined 19,000 b/d. The same block's Sable oilfield – held by PetroSA (60% and operator) and Pioneer (40%) – produces 25,000 b/d. This accounts for less than 10% of the oil South Africa consumes – estimated to be around 0.53m b/d. The country's global pre-eminence in the synthetic-oil business significantly