Sasol eyes options for Mozambique gas

Sasol Ltd., Johannesburg, plans to study the feasibility of three options for development of the Temane gas find in Mozambique. The company is a partner in the recent Temane-3 appraisal well drilled 600 km northeast of Maputo by license operator ARCO Mozambique (Temane) Ltd. (for well results see related story, p. 98). The Temane discovery was made by Gulf Oil Corp. in 1956, but the company relinquished the license after drilling an appraisal well in 1967. Now ARCO and partners plan to drill up

Sept. 14, 1998

2 min read

Sasol Ltd., Johannesburg, plans to study the feasibility of three options for development of the Temane gas find in Mozambique.

The company is a partner in the recent Temane-3 appraisal well drilled 600 km northeast of Maputo by license operator ARCO Mozambique (Temane) Ltd. (for well results see related story, p. 98).

The Temane discovery was made by Gulf Oil Corp. in 1956, but the company relinquished the license after drilling an appraisal well in 1967. Now ARCO and partners plan to drill up to five appraisal wells in a bid to prove commerciality.

A Sasol official told OGJ it is exploring three avenues for exploitation of Temane reserves, should a commercial prospect be proved up, although a target figure for reserves has not yet been set.

First, Sasol is considering using Temane gas as feedstock for its Secunda synthetic fuels plant near Johannesburg. This would involve building a 900-km pipeline, but it would improve feedstock flexibility at the plant.

Sasol is also considering connecting the find to the expanding South African natural gas grid, as the Kwazulu-Natal and later the Gauteng areas are brought into the network.

The official said these regions are the hub of South Africa's industrial activity. Again, this option would involve building a pipeline from Mozambique to the grid, with Secunda being the most logical link-up point.

A third option is to use the Temane gas to support the growth of gas-based new ventures in South Africa's petrochemicals sector. One idea is to build a gas-to-liquids plant similar to the 20,000 b/d capacity unit under development in Qatar, based on Sasol's proprietary slurry-phase process (OGJ, June 23, 1997, p. 17).