Our fossil-gas-engaging minister, Gwede Mantashe, correct to celebration vogue, loves to cock a snook at Western polluters or any exploiters of Africa, many of whom from which the ANC advantages vastly. While this continuously has primal justification, in terms of the international pattern in energy sourcing, Mantashe is formulation out of whack, based utterly on ParlyReport SA. Imagine Port St Johns as a refinery city? Mantashe can. There are two key buy-aways for me in this tale. One is the ANC’s grasping finger in barely about every historical energy pie, indicative of its conflating celebration passion with public passion (‘they’re the an analogous element’, this will probably teach). The different is the celebration’s expertise for floating grandiose schemes that buy the public put a question to off the genuine points: cleaning up the interior rot and delivering services and products. The article used to be first published on ParlyReportSA. – Chris Bateman
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Mantashe mute has an put a question to for gas…
By ParlyReportSA
At all times round and sniffing esteem a foxhound, notably when the topic of oil and gas arises, is our Minister of Energy, Gwede Mantashe. Two things excite the grand within the ANC elite, particularly energy and effectively being propositions. In the case of energy, Minister Mantashe looks to be following in correct celebration custom, preferring the predominant.
In prominent formulation, he moves seamlessly between the Turkish Karpowership agreements (now to be investigated by Parliament) to the Shell-Thebe coalition off the Wild Waft, unmoved by elections and economic crises and shrugging off accusations of being a union man with the center of a coal miner.
Going effectively
It is, pointless to claim, Shell which is named by Minister Mantashe as the hottest bidder that will provide gas from its Middle East installations for 20 years introduced presumably by tanker to the three Karpower vessels in SA ports and it is a long way Shell, which holds a 25% funding in Thebe, as does the ANC with a an analogous holding. And supreme success to Shell, that’s their substitute and so they’re good at planning. Their international strategies are vivid.
In the case of the ANC, the venerable energy direction to the riches of the earth beneath is effectively trodden, esteem an frail Silk Route. Alec Erwin initiated the ministerial ‘Sport of Energy’ with unique coal vitality stations for Eskom; Jacob Zuma nearly pulled off the Russian nuclear huge slam with Vladimir Putin; Jeff Radebe mysteriously signed something in South Sudan (we never bought to grab what) and developed something with Ghana (which failed); and Joemat-Pettersson’s silver glove used to be desirous about the sale of the nation’s oil stocks.
The upward push of the empire
Gwede Mantashe could even be the least secretive of all and playing for increased stakes at that. Hidden within the help of his cowl, within the ruins of the Central Energy Fund, is Mantashe’s unique phoenix, the Nationwide Petroleum Company (beforehand identified as PetroSA), envisaged to fetch mineral rights royalties granted in terms of the Upstream Petroleum Sources Bill at a fixed sum of 20% on all oil and gas exploration revenues.
So, what used to be the Shell/Thebe realizing for the Wild Waft gas exploration dart all about? Absolute self belief, phase of the realizing dreamt up by PetroSA management from the ashes of the utter’s dart into offshore drilling and presumably to re-vitalise the mothballed Mossgas refinery, firstly identified as Soekor. Presumably the refinery is unprejudiced too a long way south in sea miles for a pipeline from the Outeniqua Basin off the Wild Waft however Minister Mantashe, if he is nothing, is a decent dreamer.
Radiant PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers, which we respect drastically and watch for idea, is on file as pointing out, “On a nation-by-nation foundation … continued exploitation of existing fossil gas reserves, in conjunction with most modern pure gas discoveries, could tempt some international locations to fail to consider the advantages of a extra diversified energy generation mix and stay entrenched in fossil fuels.”
At all times to be tempted, Minister of Energy Gwede Mantashe is on file; before all the pieces up of the Africa Energy Week conference in Cape Metropolis, handiest weeks sooner than the Makhanda High Court docket gave its judgment in opposition to Shell and the Mantashe realizing, he made the next comment, “Our continent, collectively, and her particular person international locations, is made to undergo the brunt of the heavy polluters. We are being pressured … to perambulate faraway from all forms of fossil fuels, at the side of sources similar to gas thought to be key sources for industrialisation. Africa need to win the moment.”
Dreaming nice
He closed off by announcing that he wished to position African oil and gas ventures “at the forefront of international energy progress”. He even went so a long way as to imply to a member of the media that Port St Johns could merely be rebuilt as a refinery city. Presumably that that you just would be in a position to mediate of. However who knows which port city Minister Mantashe has a realizing for? Port St Johns or Mossel Bay – does it matter in a dream?
With Shell Exploration having packed its baggage and left SA shores, Minister Mantashe has had to hiss the news that his ministry accepts the judgment that seen environmental groups and communities calling his project, “contaminated to sealife and the livelihoods of communities dependent on the ocean for fishing and cultural practices”.
With President Ramaphosa on a fully varied funding tack of unhurried and the wind blowing effectively on the energy renewables tale, it looks the ANC national govt are in a position to dreaming up unique economic instructions a week. While it has always been complex to rein in ‘Uncle Gweezy’, presumably our president need to mute buy some advice from the energy gurus in substitute and substitute by noting that his minister of energy is beginning to sound esteem Emperor Nero with plans to fabricate his empire while Rome used to be burning.
Right here’s the 2nd project of the Minister that has failed on environmental grounds.
- The submit Minister Mantashe fails the green take a look at as soon as extra seemed first on ParlyReportSA.
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