South Africa’s upstream oil and gas reform push could benefit from Angola’s journey of petroleum legislative and institutional restructuring to unlock offshore and shale prospects, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) has said.
The shift comes after years of delays, legal battles and missed investment opportunities that have left the country struggling to convert geological potential into viable projects.
The Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act (UPRDA), enacted in late 2024, consolidates licensing and introduces a 20 percent carried state interest, while the launch of the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC) in May 2025 merges PetroSA, iGas and the Strategic Fuel Fund into a single upstream operator.
In October 2025, authorities lifted the 13‑year moratorium on shale exploration in the Karoo Basin, estimated to hold up to 300 trillion cubic feet of gas.
South Africa’s challenge is execution. Environmental litigation has repeatedly stalled offshore exploration by TotalEnergies and Shell since 2022, including the Western Cape High Court’s 2025 decision to rescind environmental authorisation for Block 5/6/7.
Major finds such as Brulpadda and Luiperd remain undeveloped despite estimates that they could contribute up to R25 billion annually to the balance of payments.
According to AEC executive chairman NJ Ayuk, South Africa’s reform trajectory mirrors early steps taken by Angola where coordinated legal, fiscal and institutional restructuring reversed years of production decline.
“Angola’s regulatory reforms demonstrate that political will, matched with clear fiscal and legal frameworks, can transform an upstream sector within a single policy cycle,” Ayuk said.
“These reforms offer critical lessons for countries such as South Africa, which has the opportunity to be a first-mover in establishing a strong regulatory environment.”
Angola’s experience suggests that legislative change alone is insufficient; investment follows only when reforms are applied consistently and at pace.
With the UPRDA, SANPC and the Karoo moratorium lift, South Africa has laid the legislative foundation for a modern upstream sector.
Whether it can implement these reforms quickly enough will determine if rising exploration interest in southern Africa’s offshore basins finally extends south of the Namibian border.
JN/APA