SASOL TO ABANDON SEARCH FOR HYDROCARBONS IN BLOCKS 16 AND 19

Maputo, 11 Jul (AIM) – The South African petro-chemical giant Sasol is on
the verge of abandoning the search for petroleum and gas in offshore blocks 16 and 19 in the Mozambique sedimentary basin, reports the daily newspaper “Noticias”.

According to the chairperson of the publicly owned Mozambican Hydrocarbon
Company (ENH), Nelson Ocuane, data from test wells led Sasol to conclude
that the natural gas reserves in these areas are not commercially viable.

He added that the environmental impact assessment carried out in 2006 showed that there were no major constraints to the exploration related to artisanal fishing or tourism.

Therefore, in September 2010 a consortium formed by Sasol and ENH received an eight year exploration and production contract under which Sasol committed itself to spend 25 million US dollars.

Areas 16 and 19 are situated between the provinces of Inhambane and Sofala – south of the Save River, north of Cabo de Sao Sebastiao, and east of the Bazaruto National Park. They are close to the gas deposits at Pande and
Temane, in Inhambane province, where Sasol is the operator.

(AIM)

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