REGULATION OF UPSTREAM GAS AND PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES: ISSUES ARISING

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) issued a statement to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) expressing concerns over transparency, environmental monitoring, and the lack of Climate Change Impact Assessments (CCIAs) for upstream gas and petroleum activities.

• The CER challenges PASA's position that the public does not have an automatic right of access to information regarding rights issued for oil and gas projects, arguing this contradicts the Constitutional right of access to information and judicial precedents regarding environmental information.
• There is a reported lack of specialized environmental oversight for gas operations; the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) confirmed there are 94 Environmental Mineral Resource Inspectors (EMRIs) in South Africa, but none are designated for gas, only for mining.
• The CER expresses concern regarding Afro Energy's 'pilot production project' conducted under an exploration right and requests that PASA inspect the operations to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA).
• The CER asserts that PASA must require Climate Change Impact Assessments (CCIAs) for oil and gas operations under section 24O of NEMA and the Thabametsi judgment, regardless of whether explicit guidelines or policies exist, to meet South Africa's international obligations under the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2023). REGULATION OF UPSTREAM GAS AND PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES: ISSUES ARISING. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/29-06-2023-Response-to-PASA.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. REGULATION OF UPSTREAM GAS AND PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES: ISSUES ARISING. 2023. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/29-06-2023-Response-to-PASA.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=REGULATION OF UPSTREAM GAS AND PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES: ISSUES ARISING |date=29 June 2023 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/29-06-2023-Response-to-PASA.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2023regulation, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{REGULATION OF UPSTREAM GAS AND PETROLEUM ACTIVITIES: ISSUES ARISING}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2023}, month = jun, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/29-06-2023-Response-to-PASA.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }