South Africa’s Top Court Blocks Shell Wild Coast Exploration
South Africa’s Top Court Blocks Shell Wild Coast Exploration Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and gas sector.
Her… South Africa’s Constitutional Court has blocked Shell-led exploration along the country’s Wild Coast, adding another legal setback to an offshore sector already struggling to keep pace withneighboring Namibia.
The country’s highest court on Friday overturned a 2024 Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that had preserved a pathway for Shell and Impact Africa to conduct seismic surveys off South Africa’s east coast under an exploration right granted in 2014.
Local communities and environmental groups had challenged the plans partly on grounds that consultation was inadequate.
Justice Jody Kollapen said the Supreme Court of Appeal order was set aside.
Shell said it remained committed to responsible offshore exploration, stakeholder engagement and environmental stewardship.
The ruling does not end Shell’s broader South African ambitions.
The supermajor received environmental authorization last year to drill as many asfive ultra-deepwater exploration wellsin the Northern Cape Ultra Deep Block off South Africa’s west coast, part of the Orange Basin that extends north into Namibia.
Shell has already made major discoveries on the Namibian side of that basin, where exploration has moved substantially faster.
The company has also been pursuing a60% operating interestin South Africa’s Block 2C through a proposed farm-in agreement with state-owned PetroSA.
Under that deal, Shell would pay a $25 million signing bonus and fund roughly $135 million to $150 million for an initial three-well program.
The transfer still requires regulatory approval.
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