Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) on Friday said the Port of Mossel Bay is well equipped to provide value for Total, following the company’s significant gas condensate discovery.

The discovery was made earlier this year on the Brulpadda prospect, located in the Outeniqua basin, which is 175 km off the southern coast of South Africa.

Total started drilling at the prospect in November, which will continue in March. The fleet comprises one rig and four vessels being managed by AfriShore Shipping.

Total previously announced that it planned to acquire a three-dimensional seismic survey this year, followed by up to four exploration wells in this licence.

Mossel Bay port manager Shadrack Tshikalange said the port’s role in the drilling expedition (to the exploring vessels) involved providing land and quay space for the logistics base operations, as well as marine services such as piloting, berthing, craft services and vessel and traffic control.

“The oil rig Deepsea Stavanger operated off this coastline and a number of vessels for the emerging oil industry called at Mossel Bay. During this particular exploration exercise, the various supply vessels made regular use of our berths. Our port is also able to provide a craft service to do crew changes and stores delivery offshore,” added Tshikalange. 

Mossel Bay is the smallest of TNPA’s commercial ports along the South African coast, and is the only port in the country that operates two offshore mooring points within port limits.

The Port of Mossel Bay is also home to one of the few gas-to-liquids refineries around the world. Tshikalange explained that South Africa’s smallest refinery, Mossgas, built by national oil company PetroSA in 1989, is located nearby. The Brulpadda find contains condensates – a kind of light crude oil – which only PetroSA’s Mossel Bay refinery can process.

Meanwhile, government’s Operation Phakisa: Oceans Economy programme is under way in Mossel Bay, where a slipway upgrade is in the pipeline and the port had entered into a service level agreement with PetroSA to provide Sector Education and Training Authority-accredited apprenticeship training to 15 young people from previously disadvantaged communities in Mossel Bay.