The South African Court of Appeal has overturned a previous ruling and allowed Shell to explore for oil and gas on South Africa’s environmentally sensitive offshore strip along the pristine Wild Coast. There is a catch: Shell must consult with the public before starting work.
In fact, the lack of a public hearing was the basis for the Makhanda High Court’s decision to ban exploratory drilling by Shell, Impact Africa and BG International in 2014. The companies appealed, which the court rejected, but at the same time recognized Shell’s right to work on the Wild Coast. The company now has the right to make a third and final application.
Environmentalists and coastal communities have protested Shell’s seismic plans, claiming that underwater acoustics are harmful to marine animals, especially migrating whales. Fishing and other activities will also suffer from the oil company’s drilling, environmentalists said.
South Africa is increasingly attracting interest from oil majors, especially after the discovery of two gas fields in 2019 by France’s TotalEnergies. However, in addition to environmentalists, there are other risks, in particular geopolitical ones, since two African “hot spots” – Mozambique and Namibia – are nearby.
Shell is the operator of two blocks, Transkei and Algoa (under one license), on the shelf of South Africa and owns 50% of the shares in the projects, the other half is owned by local Impact.
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