Sasol’s has commenced the drilling of the first well on the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) licence in onshore Inhambane province, Mozambique, as part of the first phase of its field development plan.

The PSA licence which is close to the company’s current producing Petroleum Production Agreement licence, is an integrated Oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) project.

According to Sasol, the drilling signifies the commencement of the drilling campaign, which is part of the first phase of the field development plan.

This field development plan includes the demarcation and initial development of the Temane G8, Temane East, Inhassoro G6 and Inhassoro G10 reservoirs. Thirteen production wells will be spud during this first phase, while oil and LPG production facilities will be installed near the current Central Processing Facility (CPF).

“The spud of the first well in the PSA licence area reaffirms Mozambique as the heartland of Sasol's oil and gas strategy in sub-Saharan Africa and provides a platform from which to drive socio-economic growth,” John Sichinga, Senior Vice President of

Sasol Exploration and Production International told PR newswire.

Not long after the Council of Ministers in Mozambique approved the PSA field development plan in January, 2016, Sasol hired a drilling rig from ‘’Société de Maintenance Pétrolière’’ which was received in Maputo on March 19, 2016.

The phase 1 development plan visualizes the development of more hydrocarbon resources that will assist in driving the growth of both Mozambique and Southern Africa. This is expected to cost about $1.4 billion.

Anita Fatunji