The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will present 15-20 local companies in the South African national pavilion at the Africa Oil Week (AOW) event which will take place in Cape Town, from 4-8 November 2019
The event will enable the dti to use the AOW as a platform to outline the department’s commitments to the energy sector and re-emphasise the need for sustainable and equitable growth for local businesses.
The companies will also be exposed to more than 1500 senior executives from the oil and gas value chain across the globe, including 15 ministers of energy, vital decision-makers from national and international oil companies, oilfield service providers, and the investment community.
The inclusion of the South African Pavilion is aligned with the country’s strategic objective of implementing an external investment-led trade approach that aims to increase the country’s export capacity for diversified goods and services to international markets while promoting industrial development, job creation, foreign direct investment and economic growth to position South Africa (SA) as a global market.
Rob Davies, the minister of trade and industry, said the sub-Saharan Africa region is rapidly transforming into a natural gas jurisdiction given major recent natural gas discoveries in the region and the significant potential domestically in South Africa.
“Following the profound experience of reindustrialisation of the USA on the back of major gas finds, and the Qatari LNG development trajectory, the potential for the realisation of significant long-term onshore value in South Africa and the region is substantial,” he added.
“Whether or not South Africa discovers its own commercially viable natural gas resources, it will play a major role in driving onshore demand and the development of the regional resources,” he noted.
He further added that given the opportunities presented in the regional and domestic natural gas sector, the dti continues to refine its long-term natural gas industrialisation policy for SA, which would maximise the multiplier effects (both upstream and downstream) of natural gas resources both domestically and in the South East African region.
Appropriate natural gas industrial policy will enable SA and the region to optimise the use of natural gas, maximise its multiplier effect potential and drive regional integration.
