Expert Report – Tetra4 Cluster 2 Gas Field

The report evaluates the CCIA for the Tetra4 Cluster 2 gas field expansion, which includes up to 400 test wells and 300 production wells. The author argues that the CCIA fails to meet South African legal requirements for a full life-cycle emissions assessment, specifically citing the omission of Scope 3 emissions from the final impact determination and several errors in Scope 1 calculations. Key technical failures identified include the use of outdated global warming potential (GWP) values, unrealistic flaring efficiency assumptions, and the omission of methane emissions from well drilling and operational gas production. Additionally, the report finds that the CCIA provides an unsupported claim that the project's LNG will replace more GHG-emitting fuels, while failing to account for the transport of 40% of the produced LNG.

• The CCIA uses outdated global warming potential (GWP) values based on the 2001 Third IPCC Assessment Report, which are approximately 20% lower than current expert consensus. For example, the 100-year GWP for methane (CH4) was updated from 23 to approximately 28 in the 2021 IPCC assessment.
• The CCIA fails to account for methane emissions during the construction phase's well drilling and testing for up to 400 exploration and 300 production wells. A sample calculation using DFFE Methodological Guideline emission factors suggests well testing emissions should be 79,674 CO2eq tonnes per year, which is 5.5 times higher than the 14,517 CO2eq tonnes per year reported in the CCIA.

APA

Marais, E. A. (2023). Expert Report – Tetra4 Cluster 2 Gas Field. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Annexure-A2.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Marais, Eloise A. Expert Report – Tetra4 Cluster 2 Gas Field. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2023. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Annexure-A2.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Marais |first1=Eloise A. |title=Expert Report – Tetra4 Cluster 2 Gas Field |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=7 August 2023 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Annexure-A2.pdf?x21779 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{marais2023expert, author = {Marais, Eloise A.}, title = {{Expert Report – Tetra4 Cluster 2 Gas Field}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Annexure-A2.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }