South Africa and Italy: Capturing Opportunities in LNG projects - Webinar

At present, natural gas plays a fundamental role in bringing fuel toward a low carbon economy. Most energy scenarios forecast a gas market in expansion for at least 15-20 years, replacing coal in power generation.

Three significant trends regarding LNG technologies are raising interest in the international gas community: liquefaction technology has advanced, enabling possibilities to commoditise gas by-passing sunk investments such as pipelines; gas prices are changing from long-term to short-term contracts opening up to a competitive, spot market attracting new buyers to the sector; LNG trade patterns (traditional exporters and importers) are shifting and new areas with tremendous LNG supply potential are emerging.

Africa is setting the path with its significant gas reserves. The significant discoveries made over the past decade in the continent have revealed a total of 200 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas reserves, enough to supply two-thirds of current global demand for 20 years. Planned and announced LNG project developments in Sub-Saharan Africa are starting to come online with a total liquefaction capacity of approximately 44 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). This will account for 8% of the potential capacity worldwide by the mid-2020s. 

The projects will significantly contribute to unleashing the potential of African economies while boosting the energy transition in markets like Europe. In this scenario, Italian companies are key partners for LNG countries, and their proven track record in developing technologies may contribute to further growth of LNG, allowing cost reductions and increasing efficiency. 

In South Africa, in the short-term, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy plans to import LNG to provide an ‘anchor demand’ for electricity generation as the best way of catalysing the gas economy in the country. In the mid to longer-term, the South African government is planning to establish a gas market (domestic gas utilisation for industrial, commercial, transportation and residential use) by importing and stimulating regional trade within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In addition, recent discoveries of deposits off the South African coast in the Brulpadda Block by the French company Total also hold immense promise in the future.

South African companies are well-placed to win contracts and supply services to project contractors, due to the country’s sophisticated services and industrial sector and the limited shipping distances that will help favourable delivery prices. 
The Webinar will provide an overview of the LNG gas projects where Italian and South African companies can find grounds for fruitful business partnerships.

Date:

Thursday 17 September

Time: 10:00 – 11 :30 CET

Programme:

• Moderator: 
  
  Mark Russell, Senior Partner, Linklaters 
• Welcome Remarks: 
  
  TSD Nxumalo, Consul-General of South Africa in Milan 
  Paolo Cuculi, Ambassador of Italy to South Africa
• Presentations by the chief panelists: 
  
  Adrian Strydom, CEO, South African Oil & Gas Alliance (SAOGA)  
  Duncan Bonnett, Director Market Access & Research, Africa House
  Michele Poggi, E&C Onshore - MD Saipem East Africa Head of Business Development– East Africa Area, Saipem 
  Wallace Manyara, Business Development Manager, Ansaldo Energia South Africa
• Q&A