South African oil and gas company PetroSA’s Sable oil field, located 95km off the southern coast of South Africa and 150km southwest of Mossel Bay, has started to produce oil, the company announced on Monday.
The Sable oil field is expected to produce 20- to 25-million barrels of oil over the next three years, with a possible life of up to five to six years.
Initially about 30 000 to 40 000 barrels of crude will be produced every day.
This output will replace 8% to 11% of South Africa’s current oil import requirement of 370 000 barrels of oil per day.
The processing of the oil will take place on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel anchored offshore in water 100m deep.
Every three weeks the oil will be transferred to a shuttle tanker, which then sails to Saldanha Bay, Cape Town or Durban for refining into petrol and petroleum products, mostly for the South African market.
“A significant step, through Sable, has been taken by PetroSA towards realising stability as far as crude supplies are concerned for all South Africans,” said PetroSA chief executive Mpumelelo Tshume.
PetroSA holds a 60% interest and operates the Sable field, and the Dallas-based partner company Pioneer Natural Resources holds the remaining 40% interest.
The project was approved in June 2001 with a budget of $370-million.
PetroSA has offered 9% of its Sable interest for sale to empowerment groups. By November, this empowerment sale is set to be completed.
The Sable oil field is the third PetroSA has brought into production since 1997. The other two oil fields, Oribi and Oryx, have already together produced 35-million barrels and are producing 15 000 barrels per day.
The Sable oil field was first discovered in 1990. — I-Net Bridge