Two years after having issued draft rules, South Africa will release regulations for shale gas exploration by June 2015 announced the Ministry of Mineral Resources. The South African Government was pressed by oil & gas companies that were waiting on the regulation to decide on their investments perspectives in the country. Several companies announced reconsidering investments due to volatile oil prices and delays in awarding licenses. Shell, Falcon Oil and Gas in partnership with Chevron, and Bundu Gas have applied for exploration licenses in the Karoo region. Environmentalists are opposing the development of shale gas exploration activity using the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique as it could cause huge environmental damage in the water-scarce region.
It is expected to take around three years of exploration to determine if the Karoo reserves in South Africa could be commercially viable, before moving into possible production.