TEEPSA - Deep Western Orange Basin (DWOB) Exploration Drilling EIA off the West Coast of South Africa

TotalEnergies EP South Africa S.A.S. (TEEPSA) is the operator of Licence Block Deep Western Orange Basin (DWOB) off the West Coast of South Africa and proposes to conduct an exploration well drilling campaign.

Licence Block DWOB is located in water depths ranging from 500 m to 3 900 m and 211 km offshore from the coastal town of Saldanha Bay. TEEPSA’s Area of Interest in which to conduct exploration for oil and gas covers 15 000 km2. The proposed offshore exploration campaign entails offshore drilling of up to seven (7) exploration and/or appraisal wells, including:

Vertical seismic profiling; VSP: Using special equipment to analyse the wells;

Testing the wells to learn more about the oil and gas; and

Plugging and abandonment: Sealing the wells when investigations are done.

Prior to commencing with activities, TEEPSA must obtain permission, an Environmental Authorisation; EA, in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, (GN R 982 of 2014), promulgated under the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (No. 107 of 1998), from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR). As part of this process, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) must be completed. SLR Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (SLR), an independent firm of Environmental Assessment Practitioners, has been appointed by TEEPSA to manage the environmental authorisation processes.

Status

SLR compiled a Draft EIA Report, which was available for a 30-day review and comment period from 11 August to 10 September 2025. The Final EIA Report was due to be submitted no later than 19 September 2025 to the Petroleum Agency SA for decision-making. However, in light of comments received during the public review period, the EIA will now be submitted by 6 March 2026 to allow for sufficient time to respond to the issues raised.

Please download the letter below for further details.

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