Saldanha Bay. Shell start gas Exploration on the West Coast

Shell Upstream International has joined the hunt for deep-water oil and gas off South Africa's West Coast, but one of its priorities is to quell any hopes of quick riches.

The Dutch group sent executives this week to hold public consultation meetings in Cape Town and smaller centres like Lamberts Bay, Springbok and Port Nolloth.

"We are trying to keep expectations to a minimum," said Kim Bye Bruun, the Upstream unit's communication manager. "Nothing will be done on the ground for the next few years. This is a desktop study."

Shell won rights last November to explore a deep-water block the size of the Netherlands about 150km offshore, from Saldanha Bay to Port Nolloth.

If the desktop study, which could take three years, indicates areas of interest, seismic studies will be done. If those prove positive, test holes will be drilled.

It is a long process with no guarantee of results as shown by the Ibhubesi gas field closer inshore. Forest Exploration International found significant reserves there 10 years ago, but no gas has been piped ashore. In fact, no pipes have been laid to carry it.

Forest Exploration's commercial director, John Langhus, said it was impossible to say when the first gas would be delivered. "We can't predict that until we know what the demand for the gas is," he said.

"We're negotiating with parties about offtake of the gas. Once we get the critical level of commitments for the gas, then we can decide to move that forward."

Langhus said Forest saw the South African market as a big one, from electricity generation to industrial and residential use. "We're very optimistic about the growth of the market once it kicks off."

The problem is getting the market to kick off. Doug Kuni, managing director of the Independent Power Producers Association, said energy companies had yet to strike a deal with a South African buyer that would make it economical to start producing.

"All the exploration companies are spending dollars; they will require a dollar price for the gas. They will put it into a power station and produce electricity that will be paid for in rand. They don't want to take the currency risk."

Kuni said the energy companies wanted a Brent index in the pricing, but South African buyers were reluctant to commit. "Who knows where the price of oil will go?"

There had been more than 10 years of talks without a solution.

The minister of energy, Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, said in parliament this week that her department was in talks with a company to supply about 1500MW of electricity from a gas-fired power station on the West Coast, but she gave no details. "A memorandum of understanding will be signed once all the negotiations are finalised," she said.

Source timeslive.co.za

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Expansion plans for Saldanha Bay port on the West Coast

A remarkable transport/engineering feat happened during last year’s Christmas season – on 27 December – at the Sishen railway station. It literally set the wheels in motion for far-reaching results, especially so for Saldanha’s iron ore export effort.

On that day the last of ten trains left the Northern Cape’s iron export station for Saldanha, almost 1 000 km to the south. Its successful departure would determine whether the iron ore team could claim victory by reaching the one million ton per week throughput mark. And so it did, to much jubilation amongst the teams involved.

There was purpose to this exercise – to push iron ore exports, through the Port of Saldanha, at a rate of 60 million tons a year on a continuous basis by the end of this year. SA Port Operations is under continual pressure from the Northern Cape mining operations, especially Kumba and Assmang, to increase export capacity.

During a visit to the bulk terminal in Saldanha, chief executive Karl Socikwa last month told CBN the third phase (1C) of the terminal expansion plan is now in full swing, with the aim to lift export capacity to 60 million tons per annum. This comes in at a cost of R630 million, all earmarked to improve the infrastructure at the port.

During the past financial year, ending March 2010, the port loaded a record of 44 million tons of iron ore, almost 70% of it for Far East markets, more notably China.

During 2004 Terminal Expansion Phase 1A was completed, at a cost of R950 million, lifting capacity from 28 mtpa to 36 million tons per annum. Last year Terminal Expansion Phase 1B was completed, expanding capacity to 47 mtpa.

The current ramp-up of the corridor to 60 mtpa is reliant on the channel achieving certain milestones within certain pre-defined time frames.

One of these critical milestones was for the channel to move from an average of 920 000 tons per week to around a million tons per week in the first quarter of 2010. Breaking through this psychological barrier early was necessary to set the tone for this year. Now it’s all about sustainability at these levels.

The bulk terminal at the Port of Saldanha, which is the last link in the iron ore corridor supply chain is where all the action happens in terms of offloading, stacking and stockpiling, reclaiming and loading the ore onto bulk carrier ships.

It is estimated that well in excess of R5 billion has so far been spent to increase iron ore exports from the deep-water port to meet the growing demand for South Africa’s high-quality iron ore. Although volumes have been down of recent months, all seems set to sustain the one million ton target to create capacity ahead of demand.

Currently the infrastructure at the port comprises two rotary tipplers, four stacker reclaimers, two shiploaders and 25 conveying systems, providing the terminal with a capacity to off-load 10 000 tons per hour onto a ship.

But much money will still be spent on to expand infrastructure as the port is gearing up to increase capacity to more than 80 million tons per annum in the not too distant future.

Environmental impact studies are needed for the establishment of new infrastructure on some 141 hectares of land. This part of the proposed project could have the biggest impact on the sensitive environment of the bay and lagoon.

The plan is to reclaim an additional 50 hectares of land within Saldanha Bay. This will be done by dredger. The shipping channel will be deepened and the material recovered will be used for the construction of new shipping berths.

Another footprint area which could be impacted, is 35 hectares of land in the undisturbed dune area on the coast between the iron ore quay and the Saldanha Mittal Steel Plant. The intention is also to fill in the so called ‘Oyster Dam’ to create more space for stockpiling iron ore within the confines of Saldanha Bay.

The size of trains and the number of ships calling at Saldanha’s port will also increase when the facilities are enlarged to handle more iron ore. Ships calling at the port of Saldanha will also increase in size and number. Two ships a week, being about a hundred a year, called at Saldanha in 2007 to load iron ore. Even though bigger ships will be loading, it’s anticipated that shipping volume will now increase to more than 200 vessels a year.

Source cbn.co.za

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Langebaan Lagoon could suffer massive environmental disaster

A "shocked and embarrassed" Public Works Minister, Geoff Doidge, says he was unaware his department was constructing a R100-million boat yard for the SANDF's Special Forces in Langebaan Lagoon without the necessary environmental approvals.

He has now asked his Water and Environmental Affairs counterpart, Buyelwa Sonjica, to set up a joint task team from their departments to undertake a "thorough" investigation.

Sonjica's officials are furious that Doidge's department reneged on its promise last year to stop work on the project, other than to stabilise the roof of the boat yard, until the required environmental authorisations were approved.

And the breaking of this commitment also caused Sonjica unwittingly to give an untrue answer to a parliamentary question by the DA in March.

Doidge's department has already paid a R93 000 fine for starting the project without doing the necessary environmental impact assessment and without authority to work in a protected area: the West Coast National Park.

Langebaan Lagoon is also proclaimed as a internationally important bird conservation site under the Ramsar Convention, which South Africa has signed.

"Green Scorpions" - environmental management inspectors - were told during a site visit last August that the project had been started without applying for environmental approval "as a result of time constraints". However, it has been on the cards since at least 2006.

After the inspectors' visit, Water and Environmental Affairs deputy director-general Joanne Yawitch sent Doidge's department a formal letter, notifying it of her intention to issue a compliance notice under the National Environmental Management Act because of the "unlawful" construction and contravention of "numerous provisions of the protected areas legislation".

The notice would have forced all work on the project to stop until environmental approvals were given.

But spokesman for Sonjica's department Albi Modise said it had decided not to issue a compliance notice because the public works department (DPW) had responded promptly with an appeal.

"The decision not to issue the compliance notice was also based on the fact that DPW has a firm undertaking that work would only continue on the roof stabilisation and that other activities would cease pending the outcome of the appeal.

"The department recently became aware that DPW has reneged on their commitment... it appears as if the DPW has proceeded in direct contravention of its undertaking and failed to inform this department until recently.

"This is viewed in an extremely serious light and will be taken into account in determining enforcement action moving forward."

By John Yeld
Environment & Science Writer

Source http://www.iol.co.za

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Table Mountain view will never be the same again.

Breaking news on the SELI 1 Seli 1 is here to stay and as predicted will become a permanent feature on our shore line. The big swell of the first winter storm has been battering her for several days and has put the final nail in her rusty coffin. The area was named Table View for the great views of Table Mountain, which is one of the seven wonders of the world and. Tourists from all over the world flock daily to our beaches to take photos of the spectacular views, and to spend some time on our beautiful beaches, but now they will have to photo shop their photo’s or buy post cards to get photo’s of the mountain without a shipwreck. They will also have to content with the sticky oil on the beaches. Our government is so keen on changing names of towns and cities I wonder if they will be changing the name from Table View to Seli 1 view? I am sure they would rather spend the money on changing the name of maritime maps, have a huge renaming party and fly Jacob Malema down to do the offici al opening of Seli 1 Boulevard than on trying to remove the wreck. Just as Table Mountain one of the seven wonders of the world is, so is the Seli 1 one of the seven stuff ups of our government and maritime authorities. 1st. Allowing the crew of the ship to get on a aeroplane and to leave the country. (They should be cleaning dishes to help paying for the mess they left us). 2nd. Allowing uninsured ships in our waters. 3rd. Not putting pressure on the Turkish government to put pressure on the ships company to take responsibility for the disaster. 4th. Taking 3 months to chat over tea, cake and picnics in meetings while the weather was absolutely perfect, with small waves and hardly any wind before deciding that they would slowly start the removal of the oil and then the coal. NO RUSH 5th. The skill full way all the government departments past the hot potato. (They would make any rugby team proud with their slick handling). 6th. The skill full way they past the buck. Now other governments departments will have to get involved to help pay for the mess and clean up. 7th. The fact that they would rather wait for the ship to break up and cause a lot of damage to the ecology than to try to remove it. I am sure if FIFA asked them to move it, it would have been removed within one week. Yes, the Seli 1 did improve the banks for surfing, but at what cost? It will be spewing oil and debris on to our beaches, polluting the water and beaches killing birds and sea life and we will be getting oil spots on our wetsuits, feet and equipment for months and years to come. Read the official press release of SAMSA Source atlanticsurfco.co.za News sponsored by West Coast Office National for all your printing needs.

ArcelorMittal SA seeks quick end to row with kumba

The South African unit of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, on Tuesday said it was cooperating with Kumba Iron Ore to expedite a prolonged dispute over iron-ore supply amicably.

ArcelorMittal South Africa also said steel prices were set to rise on recovery of global demand, restocking and a boom in South Africa's economy, particularly in the construction industry.

"We are co-operating (with Kumba) to take the matter to arbitration," Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, CEO of ArcelorMittal South Africa, said at a meeting for shareholders.

She later declined to provide further details to Reuters.

Kumba, a unit of global miner Anglo American, terminated the preferential pricing deal with the steelmaker, claiming that the company had failed to renew its mining rights in Sishen mine as per South African mining laws.

Kumba supplies ArcelorMittal from the Sishen mine.

"We remain firmly optimistic that the supply agreement (with Kumba) is valid and we are taking necessary steps to protect our rights," Johnson Njeke, the unit's chairman said at the same meeting.

Nyembezi-Heita later told Reuters that the refusal by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to allow ArcelorMittal to take over the country's Zisco Steel, was a lost opportunity to show foreign investors Harare was changing its policies.

"What Zisco would have offered us was a presence in a part of the world where we could service landlocked neighbouring states, plus participating in the rebuild of Zimbabwe as a country, obviously now we have lost that," she said.

"But we haven't lost the strategy and ambition for our Sub-Saharan footprint," Nyembezi-Heita said.

Nyembezi-Heita said ArcelorMittal South Africa planned to grow its market within Sub-Saharan Africa in countries like Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and also Ghana.

Nyembezi-Heita said the global economic climate had improved and that she saw this supporting prices.

"We are seeing prices being traded up and up. There is also restocking and a rebound in steel demand," Nyembezi-Heita said.

Edited by: Reuters

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Langebaan boatyard and jetty in deepwater with EAD

The National Department of Public Works (DPW) has been fined R93 000 by its Environmental Affairs Department counterpart for developing a R100 million boatyard and jetty in the sensitive Langebaan Lagoon without environmental approval.

In March, Environment Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told Parliament that the DPW had stopped construction of the project, which is being built for the SANDF's Special Forces task force at its Salamander base at the restricted tip of the western arm of the lagoon, pending a decision by her department on whether to grant environmental authorisation retrospectively.

But angry Langebaan residents say work on the site continued and had included dredging, with the dredged material - including fatty residues from the former whaling station on the site - being dumped elsewhere in the lagoon.

Much of the Langebaan Lagoon falls within the West Coast National Park, and it is a migratory waterbird site of international significance, protected under the Ramsar Convention to which South Africa is a signatory.

Jaco Kotze, chairman of the Langebaan Ratepayers' and Residents' Association, who was one of a small delegation taken on a site inspection recently, said Sonjica had misled Parliament with her reply.

"We are very dissatisfied... the operation is going on."

Kotze said members of his association had become aware of "a lot of activity" at the base last April. They found the DPW was breaking down an old asbestos boatyard and were told a new facility would be built on the same environmental "footprint" and that there would be three pylons in the sea with a gantry.

"Jimmy Walsh of the West Coast Biosphere Reserve told them, 'You guys are not above the law', and we insisted that they apply for a Section 24G in terms of Nema (retrospective authorisation under the National Environmental Management Act) and that all operations cease."

But when they checked again in January, they found a "huge" 12m structure was being built on the water's edge, concrete columns were being put into the seabed to support a jetty of about 120m, and the area had been dredged.

"We understand the need for this facility, but they cannot just carry on irrespective of the law," said Kotze.

Responding to questions in Parliament by the DA, Sonjica said her department had issued a notice of intention to issue a formal "compliance notice" to the DPW on September 17 last year, after establishing that no environmental authorisation had been obtained.

"Following the issuing of this notice, all associated activities, such as the dredging within the 100m high water mark of the sea, ceased. The only activity that is continuing on the site is the stabilisation of the roof structure."

In December, the DPW submitted a Section 24G application to rectify the illegal construction.

Albi Modise, chief director for communications in Sonjica's department, told the Cape Argus last week the DPW had paid the R93 000 fine in full on March 23 and that his department had not yet reached a decision on its application for retrospective approval.

The DPW was asked questions about this project by the Cape Argus last Tuesday. No response had been received by the time of going to press.

Source www.iolproperty.co.za

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Strike at Saldanha port, Kumba has iron ore for 7 days.

Thousands of South African transport workers went on strike on Monday at logistics group Transnet, threatening to cripple rail, fuel pipelines and port operations in Africa's biggest economy.

The strike - the latest in a series of public protests ahead of next month's soccer World Cup - could affect coal and iron-ore exports, fuel distribution, and shipping.

Power utility Eskom said the strike, which began after failed wage talks, would have no impact on the transport of coal used to power its plants, as only small amounts of coal were carried by rail, with the rest supplied by conveyor belts directly from mines.

Transnet does not run passenger train services,

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it expected all of its 20 000 members to strike. Another union, the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) has urged its members to consider Transnet's latest pay offer and to report for duty on Monday.

If Utatu's members reject the offer, the union said it would join the strike by Wednesday. The two unions represent 85% of Transnet's workforce of about 54 000 people.

Both unions want a 15% pay increase. Transnet has now offered 11%.

"We can keep this strike going as long as the employer has not met our demands," saidJoseph Dube, Satawu's secretary for the KwaZulu Natal province.

Fifteen people were hurt when police fired rubber bullets at them in the port city of Durban after they failed to follow a police order to disperse, the SAPA news agency said.

Transnet and coal, iron-ore, ferrochrome and fuel producers, said they were confident they could supply customers for days due to built up stocks at the ports.

"The strike will not have a material immediate impact on our exports," said Pranill Ramchander, an Anglo American spokesman.

The group's thermal coal unit is the country's biggest coal exporter. South Africa exports most of its coal to power stations in Europe, but increasingly to Asia as well.

For now, operations at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world's largest coal export terminal, have been running as normal, Chief Executive Raymond Chirwa said.

"Depending on ship arrivals, our stocks could last us for three to four weeks," he said.

Kumba Iron Ore, also an Anglo unit, said the company had sufficient stocks at Saldanha port to keep loading vessels for at least seven days.

If the strike is prolonged, it could have a serious impact on the country's ferrochrome industry, the world's largest. Hernic Ferrochrome, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, relies on Transnet for 75% of its transports.

Freshgold SA Exports, which ships fresh produce out of the country said its operations were being hit.

"The strike has physically halted our container loadings from this morning ... if it's a week the impact will be quite severe," said Freshgold MD Pieter von Maltitz.

news source http://www.engineeringnews.co.za

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