Onshore Gas in South Africa

The report examines the push for natural gas as a 'transition fuel' in South Africa, contrasting government plans with the environmental and financial risks of stranded assets. It details the activities and financing of Kinetiko Energy's Mpumalanga Gas Project and Renergen's Virginia gas field, highlighting significant concerns regarding groundwater contamination, methane leakage, and a lack of transparency in governance.

• The South African government promotes natural gas as a 'transition fuel' through the Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) and the 2024 Gas Master Plan (GMP), aiming to diversify supply, develop infrastructure like pipelines and Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRUs), and convert power stations to gas.
• Kinetiko Energy, an Australian company, is developing the Mpumalanga Gas Project with funding from the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC). The project has estimated 2C contingent resources of 4.9 to 6 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of methane, but the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) reports resistance from the IDC and Kinetiko when attempting to access environmental and financial information via PAIA requests.
• Renergen's Tetra4 project in the Virginia gas field is expanding its production of LNG and helium, with a Phase 2 cost estimated at US$1.2 billion. Financing includes US$750 million in secured debt from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Standard Bank South Africa (SBSA).
• The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment upheld an appeal on 1 August 2024 against Tetra4's environmental authorisation (EA), citing 'fatally flawed' assessments of groundwater impacts and climate change. Tetra4 must now resubmit its EA to address gaps in geohydrological data and greenhouse gas emission estimates.
• Global demand for natural gas is predicted by the IEA to peak in 2030 at approximately 4,299 bcm and then decline, creating a risk of stranded assets. The IEA's Net Zero Emissions scenario suggests up to 75% of LNG projects under construction could fail to recover invested capital.
• Onshore gas development in South Africa faces significant environmental and social risks, including potential groundwater contamination in a water-scarce region and the exacerbation of air pollution in Mpumalanga, which already suffers from some of the highest pollution levels globally.

APA

Fraser, A. (2024). Onshore Gas in South Africa. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CER-Gas-report_WEB.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Fraser, Andrew. Onshore Gas in South Africa. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2024. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CER-Gas-report_WEB.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fraser |first1=Andrew |title=Onshore Gas in South Africa |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=September 2024 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CER-Gas-report_WEB.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fraser2024onshore, author = {Fraser, Andrew}, title = {{Onshore Gas in South Africa}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CER-Gas-report_WEB.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }