Non-profit organization The Green Connection has called the decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant TotalEnergies Exploration and Production South Africa environmental clearance to carry out exploratory offshore drilling as irresponsible southwest
The organization may decide to appeal the decision.
He said in a statement released on April 21 that it is always disappointing when the government “seems to choose profits over people’s needs, while ignoring the government’s responsibility to address climate change.”
Those interested and affected have 20 days from April 20 to appeal the decision to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. The environmental permit allows TotalEnergies to drill up to five exploration wells within the area known as Block 5/6/7, which covers 10,000 km².
The Green Connection also considers it irresponsible for the DMRE to minimize the risks associated with a major oil spill, as this could have devastating consequences for ocean and coastal ecosystems as well as coastal communities.
The organization also commented on the stakeholder engagement process related to the TotalEnergies Draft Scoping Report for the blogs.
Coincidentally, Green Connection says this week marks the thirteenth anniversary of energy company BP’s devastating Deepwater Horizon environmental disaster, which proved that catastrophic wellhead blowouts can happen.
The BP incident involved a rig explosion that left 11 people dead and more than three million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over four months.
While the DMRE admits that the impact of an unplanned event such as a range explosion can be very dangerous, it also considers the occurrence to be very unlikely.
Green Connection is concerned that a major oil spill could devastate the environment along the coast, its people and ecosystems. “South Africans should not be forced to take this kind of risk,” says Green Connection’s community outreach coordinator. Neville Van Rooy.
He believes that the government should choose the development options that bring the most benefits and cause the least damage, both in the short and long term.
“It is confusing that the government still has so much faith in the development potential of oil and gas, knowing full well that their extraction and use will worsen the climate crisis,” adds Van Rooy.
Strategic leader of Green Connection Lizzie McDaid says that the DMRE appears to ignore the potential climate impacts that may result from operations like Teepsa’s along the coast.
He states that the next 20 years present a critical window to address the climate crisis and therefore it is not desirable for the country to continue investing in fossil fuel sources.
Meanwhile, many stakeholders at the other end of the spectrum argue that offshore drilling is always risky to some degree, but the oil and gas industry as a whole is working harder than ever to mitigate the risks.
The footprint of a seabed exploration drilling operation is also much smaller than that of an oil extraction operation, which follows later, if the drilling serves to find
viable oil and gas reserves. Approximately seven out of ten offshore exploration sites have no development potential.
Some stakeholders argue that oil and gas development helps developing countries become less dependent on imports, creates jobs and offers the potential for massive economic development. This although the demand for oil and gas will not dissipate overnight as a result of more renewable energy development.
As stated in its 2023 Sustainability Report, TotalEnergies aims to invest $5 billion by 2023 in developing low-carbon energy and ultimately aims to reach net zero emissions by in 2050.
TotalEnergies says in its report that new oil projects are needed to meet continued strong demand, keep prices at an acceptable level and create the conditions for a “just” transition that gives people time to change their energy practices.
According to the International Energy Agency’s latest expectation, global oil demand will peak in 2030 and then decline, but at a slower rate than the natural rate of decline in oil reserves, for so new oil projects will be needed to meet demand, even below 1.7°. C Global warming scenario.
In the offshore oil and gas space, TotalEnergies collaborated with the Ocean 100 initiative, led by the World Resources Institute and the World Economic Forum, to analyze the company’s interactions with the ocean to define a comprehensive strategy at the of company “In terms of operations, we rolled out specific biodiversity action plans for our offshore facilities in Congo and Denmark in 2022,” confirms TotalEnergies in its report.
The company has set several environmental preservation goals, such as circular resource management, reducing freshwater withdrawals and biodiversity management, all while creating shared value with stakeholders.
