New impetus for SA's oil and gas aspirations

Efforts are under way to upskill the local workforce as South Africa positions itself as a global oil and gas hub. Speaking at a recent conference in Cape Town Mthozami Xiphu, executive director of the Oil & Gas Alliance, said while South Africa had a diverse range of skills and services to offer the oil and gas industry that could see it becoming a global hub, it lacked capacity. “There is a major drive to train people not just locally but across the world,” he said. “South Africans are being trained in various countries as we speak.” And that training includes logistics and Customs requirements for bringing in the large pieces of equipment needed for an oil and gas repair hub. “We still have some issues to address when it comes to importing and exporting the necessary equipment as well as regulations around the holding of that equipment on local shores.” He said there were still questions around legislation but all of this was being addressed at the highest level. “Already our major ports – Cape Town and Durban as well as Saldanha – are carrying out the necessary maintenance work required to ensure they are deep enough to handle the oil and gas vessels,” he said. “We also see the industrial development zone that is set to be declared within months in Saldanha as a major step forward in our attempts at establishing South Africa as a hub. Services that are already being considered in this zone include ship and rig repairs, storage and logistics, inspection services, pressure vessel fabrication, crude storage, as well as LPG gas import and storage facilities. INSERT There is a major drive to train people not just locally but across the world. – Mthozami Xiphu