By Devon Maylie
JOHANNESBURG--South Africa's cabinet Friday said it endorsed a
recommendation by the Department of Mineral Resources to lift a ban
on shale gas exploration in the Karoo region.
The government in April 2011 placed a moratorium on exploration
in the Karoo, an arid area believed to house shale gas reserves,
after uproar from environmentalists and concerns from the local
community. The Department of Mineral Resources last month presented
a report to parliament with recommendations, the details of which
haven't yet been released.
"Cabinet approved the report on shale gas exploration submitted
by minister of Mineral Resources from the technical task team
convened last year," a statement from the government cabinet said
Friday. "Cabinet endorsed recommendations of the report on the
lifting of the afore-stated moratorium."
A consultant's report last year for the U.S. Energy Information
Administration estimated South Africa's recoverable shale-gas
resources at 486 trillion cubic feet, which would make them the
fifth-largest in the world. A report on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell
PLC (RDSB) by a South Africa research firm this year estimated the
reserves at 450 trillion cubic feet.
Along with Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. and Bundu Oil &
Gas (Pty.) Ltd., a South African company that teamed up with
Australia's Challenger Energy Ltd., (CEL.AU) also have applied for
exploration licenses.
Write to Devon Maylie at devon.maylie@dowjones.com