WeeklySA_AdminFEASIBILITY:Investors to be wooed as plans to drill the identified fields move into top gear…
By Ali Mphaki
A long exploration journey by a group of black Limpopo businessmen has uncovered massive oil and gas deposits on the eastern side of the province bordering the Kruger National Park – a windfall is expected to ease, not only South Africa’s electricity woes, but create thousands of much-needed jobs.
This after a feasibility study was called to the area, which is situated near Louis Trichardt/Makhado, due to various reports of hydrocarbon findings in both shallow water boreholes and the presence of oil on the surface during rainy seasons.
Spearheading the multi-billion gas and oil project is Booi Brothers Petroleum (BBP), a 100 percent black-owned mining company, which is continuing exploring surrounding areas around the identified oil and gas fields for any further possible finds. The company, which intends to attract investors to the project, is currently planning to drill the identified fields as per Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) report.
Booi Holdings describes itself as a family-managed entity based in South Africa, that has been operating since 2005. “With years of lucrative individual and combined experience in the field of its operation, Booi Holdings is well positioned to expand its success. Services include project management, planning and scheduling; civil/building services, recruitment and labour broking,” says the company’s website.
CEO Peter Booi on Friday told Weekly SA Mirror that they were ready to drill after their extensive use of sub-surface modelling techniques processed more than 300 square-kilometre of the area in just two months’ time, results of which have been used to create the initial feasibility study and establish an initial value for this field.
‘While the economic value of such find is very high and of strategic importance, the next step in the exploration process will be the drilling of a group of wells into the different depth intervals to prove the finding, confirm the amount of gas and decide on the development process of the area,” he said.
An upbeat Booi added that the spin-offs from the gas and oil find in Limpopo will help ease South Africa’s power challenges and see thousands of jobs created. He said that, although BBP was in talks with stakeholders such as the Petroleum Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Geoscience department with regard to the funding of the drilling project, they were still open to prospective investors.
“We want more business companies with an interest to come on board,” adding that there was about 3.1 trillion cubic metres of recoverable gas in the area.
