Parliament's committee on mineral resources and energy has expressed concern that R14.5 billion spent by national oil company PetroSA on gas exploration yielded only 20 percent of the envisaged outcome.
The committee was briefed by state-owned diversified energy company Central Energy Fund and its subsidiaries on current state of affairs, during which the PetroSA loss and a $1 billion gas exploration deal between another subsidiary Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) and South Sudanese oil company Nilepet were put in the spotlight.
While acknowledging the huge financial risks associated with exploration activities, the committee said spending in exploration should perhaps be regulated.
"There should be a mechanism to determine the extent at which investment can be put into exploration in order to mitigate the unfortunate circumstance of huge financial losses," committee chairman Sahlulele Luzipo said in a statement.
"The avenue of private-public partnerships could also be explored." – ANA
