HCI BOARD BLASTS CRITICISM OF SEISMIC SURVEYS AS “POPPYCOCK”
- January 24, 2022
- Posted by: Cheryl
- Categories: General, Mining
Investment holding company claims critics of seismic blasting are part of an international campaign to block oil and gas exploration.
HCI board blasts criticism of seismic surveys as ‘poppycock’
Investment holding company claims critics of seismic blasting are part of an international campaign to block oil and gas exploration
Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), the BEE investor led by former trade unionist Johnny Copelyn, has dismissed criticism of seismic surveys of SA’s coastline, a project in which it holds a significant financial interest, as unfounded hype.
Opposition to the project is part of an international campaign to block oil and gas exploration in SA, the company said in a lengthy open letter on Monday, in comments that are not dissimilar to those of mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe. The minister previously painted critics of Shell’s blasting along the Wild Coast as aligned to forces opposed to SA’s development.
The Anglo-Dutch oil company was forced to suspend plans to conduct seismic blasting of the seabed along the former Transkei coast in December after the high court ruled it did not have the necessary environmental approvals.
Protests by community and conservation activists erupted in late November, with critics arguing the project to seek new oil and gas reserves along the ecologically sensitive Eastern Cape coastline would wreak environmental havoc.
Though Shell initially bore the brunt of the criticism, it soon emerged that HCI, the majority owner of eMedia Holdings, has a financial interest in the planned exploration. HCI’s 2021 annual report shows it has a 49.2% stake in Impact Oil & Gas (IOG), a London-based firm that reportedly shares ownership of the exploration rights along the Eastern Cape coast with Shell on a 50:50 basis.
In a surprise move late on Monday, HCI’s board issued a lengthy letter hitting back at criticism of its involvement in the seismic blasting plans — via its stake in IOG — saying a refusal to develop SA’s oil and gas potential is a luxury the country cannot afford. Copelyn, the CEO of HCI, sits on the board of IOG along with HCI financial director Rob Nicolella.
HCI’s board argued that criticism of seismic coastline surveys is “greatly exaggerated” as numerous such surveys conducted offshore had resulted in no deaths or injury to marine mammals.
In a separate interview with Cape Talk in response to the letter, Copelyn described criticism of seismic surveys as “poppycock”.
The Transkei controversy feeds into wider international debate about the transition to net-zero and the future of fossil fuel exploration.
Shell’s setback was widely reported in the UK media including The Guardian and the BBC. The company pulled out of a controversial oil project in Scotland with the UK government there, which hosted the COP26 climate change late in 2021, having come under pressure to remove its support.
“Those peddling fears of catastrophic damage to the coastline and its inhabitants will no doubt refuse to accept that the hype that they have stirred up is unfounded,” HCI’s board said in the letter.
“This is a campaign to stop all exploration for oil and gas in SA. It is part of an international campaign protesting the contribution of fossil fuels to the climate crisis of global warming.”
Neutrality
While HCI’s board expressed its support for the world moving towards carbon neutrality, it questioned the viability of the solutions available to achieve that in SA. It said that vilifying those involved in oil and gas exploration would merely inhibit SA’s economic growth.
HCI, which also owns stakes in Tsogo Sun Hotels and Tsogo Sun Gaming, said critics could not ignore the reality that SA’s economy is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels.
It argued that even if SA achieved its ambitious decarbonisation targets by 2050, renewables would still meet less than half the country’s energy needs by that date.
HCI said this is precisely why gas exploration is so important as it will reduce SA’s reliance on coal to fire its power stations. It argued that SA cannot afford to rely on imports from an unstable neighbour such as Mozambique to achieve its 2050 target of having 27% of the national grid powered by combined and open-cycle gas turbines.
“Significant reliance on gas-fired power over the next 30 years is completely unavoidable,” HCI said.
Source: Business Day – Garth Theunissen – theunisseng@businesslive.co.za