When South Africa entered the year 2023, it did so as a country that was thoroughly dependent on imports to meet its demand for natural gas. This is, to say the least, an uncomfortable place to be for a country that was also in an energy crisis – and that was also trying to implement an energy transition program in which gas would help replace coal, a higher-emissions fuel.

Certainly, as explained in “The State of South African Energy,” a new report prepared by the African Energy Chamber, South Africa does produce some of its own gas. Specifically, state-owned PetroSA extracts gas from several shallow-water blocks off the southern coast. But these blocks are all mature and in decline; they don’t even yield enough to cover a quarter of total demand. Instead, the country relies on gas imports, which come in via pipeline from Mozambique. It hopes to start importing LNG from Mozambique via tanker and has also talked about securing gas from neighboring Namibia, which is looking to fast-track its new discoveries in the Orange basin. However, neither of these alternatives will be available for several years, so for now, the ROMPCO line to Secunda is the only inbound route.

It doesn’t have to remain this way, of course.

Download report: https://energychamber.org/report/the-state-of-south-african-energy-2023/