The Afro Energy joint venture initiative between South Africa-based company Badimo Gas and the Austrailia-based gas exploration company Kinetiko Energy is focusing on the monetisation of natural gas in coal and sandstone at Amersfoort and Volksrust, located in the Mpumalanga region in South Africa.

Having drilled 21 gas exploration core wells and nine permeability test wells since 2011, Afro Energy is currently in the pilot production stage. The regulatory authority has granted the company a bulk-sampling permit to sell and/or dispose of gas produced to potential customers.

The permit enables the company to sell gas and generate early revenue this year. Afro Energy’s monetisation programme comprises the development of a 20-well pilot production appraisal field.

Afro Energy executive chairperson Don Ncube explains to Engineering News that natural gas as a clean source of energy has the potential to replace coal fossil fuels and generate power.

Moreover, Kinetiko has focussed on investing in South Africa as a result of the country’s coal-bed methane (CBM) potential resource supported by well-established infrastructure.

CBM is a form of natural gas, typically extracted from coal seams at depths of between 300 m and 1 000 m. It has a multi- plicity of uses, such as power generation, alternative fuel energy in the mining and manufacturing industries, a substitute to imported diesel in the transportation sector and an alternative energy source for domestic use.

Ncube explains that, in the process of drilling CBM, Afro Energy also discovered natural gas in the sandstone and mud stones, adding that it is important to note that Afro Energy’s drilling activities do not require fracking.

He comments that the discovery of natural gas in the Amersfoort and Volksrust regions is a first of its kind in South Africa and a potential game changer.

Badimo Gas is a black-owned company, with a particapting interest of 51% in Afro Energy and Kinetiko, is an Australian-listed company that owns the remaining partici- pating interest of 49%.

US-based independent oil and gas consultant Gustavson Associates has estimated a contingent resource of 2.4-trillion cubic feet (tcf), with a potential commercial recovery of 1.5 tcf throughout the tenements.

The project is strategically located close to the major population and manufacturing centre of Johannesburg and is surrounded by a major portion of the South African energy- generation infrastructure, as well as the coal and gas-to-liquid fuels industry.