South African Gas Master Plan Consultation Document

The report assesses South Africa's natural gas value chain, identifying a current energy mix contribution of 2.6% with a target of 15.7% by 2030. It evaluates domestic reserves in basins such as the Orange and Outeniqua, regional supply options from SADC countries—particularly Mozambique—and global LNG markets. The document prioritizes gas-to-power projects as anchor demand to stimulate infrastructure growth, while also exploring industrial and transport applications like CNG for taxis and buses. It concludes with a PESTEL and SWOT analysis to inform a national roadmap for gas sector reforms.

• South Africa aims to significantly increase the role of natural gas in its energy mix, moving from a current contribution of 2.6% to 15.7% by 2030 under the Integrated Resource Plan 2019.
• The domestic gas market is highly concentrated, with nearly 90% of existing demand supplied by a single entity, Sasol Gas, creating economic and employment risks due to limited supply options.
• The power sector is identified as the priority for gas utilization to create 'anchor' demand, specifically through converting diesel-powered Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) plants and mothballed coal plants to natural gas.
• Mozambique is the most viable regional supply partner due to its proximity, existing ROMPCO pipeline infrastructure, and large discoveries in the Rovuma basin, though Sasol's negotiations for a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) are currently at a deadlock.
• South Africa possesses several domestic gas opportunities, including the Brulpadda project in the Outeniqua Basin with estimated reserves of 6 tcf of gas and condensate, and unconventional resources like shale gas in the Main Karoo Basin speculated at 30 tcf.
• In the transport sector, converting public transport fleets to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is viewed as a low-risk incremental opportunity, with pilot studies showing fuel cost savings between 24% and 44% for taxis.
• The industrial sector has a significant unmet demand, consuming 0.04 tcf annually despite an actual demand of 0.11 tcf.
• Importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is the only immediate option to meet short-term demand, with potential import hubs identified at the ports of Richards Bay, Coega, and Saldanha Bay.
• The regulatory environment is characterized by overlapping mandates between the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA), and high compliance costs for environmental authorizations.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2021). South African Gas Master Plan Consultation Document. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gas-Master-Plan-Consultation-Document-Rev-I.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. South African Gas Master Plan Consultation Document. 2021. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gas-Master-Plan-Consultation-Document-Rev-I.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=South African Gas Master Plan Consultation Document |date=30 March 2021 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gas-Master-Plan-Consultation-Document-Rev-I.pdf?x21779 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2021south, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{South African Gas Master Plan Consultation Document}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Gas-Master-Plan-Consultation-Document-Rev-I.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }