Sasol Enters JV with Origin Energy for CBM Exploration in Botswana

Sasol today announced the signing of a Joint Venture agreement with Origin Energy Limited, the leading Australian integrated energy company, for the purposes of exploring for Coal Bed Methane (CBM) in Botswana.

The joint venture, through Sasol Petroleum International Pty Limited (SPI) the wholly owned upstream oil and gas subsidiary of Sasol Limited, will be known as Kubu Energy Resources (Pty) Ltd (the Kubu Joint Venture). “Kubu” means hippopotamus in Setswana, the language of the people of Botswana.

Sasol and Origin, via the Kubu Joint Venture, have signed an agreement to jointly acquire three prospecting licences in Botswana namely PL134/2010, PL135/2010, PL136/2010 from Sekaname (Pty) Ltd, a local CBM exploration company, based in Gaborone. The transaction is subject to final approval by the Botswana government.

The three prospecting licences cover an area of approximately 3,000km² and are located in the Central province of Botswana. The joint venture partners plan to conduct a number of exploration activities in the licence area during the next two years to determine the quantity of natural gas available and the feasibility for future commercial development. The first phase of the exploration will include an airborne magnetic survey, sampling of borehole cores and the drilling of test wells.

If the first exploration phase proves successful, the joint venture partners will consider committing to a more extensive exploration programme in Botswana.

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Source: Sasol, November 1, 2011