Rhino Oil and Gas – EIA for Exploration Right (ER) (ER reference: 377)

Rhino Oil and Gas Exploration South Africa (ROGESA) has lodged an application for an Exploration Right (ER) to explore for natural gas in the northern Free State Province, South Africa. The ER application has been submitted to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) on behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in terms of Section 79 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (No. 28 of 2002) (MPRDA).
The ER extends across an area of ~150 000 hectares and includes ~ 870 properties. A locality plan and list of farms is available for download from SLR (see details below). ROGESA’s primary objective is to gather an enhanced dataset to inform future exploration activities. Proposed works includes an aeromagnetic survey and drilling a minimum of two (2) exploration wells in the ER area to confirm presence of gas.
Notice is given of the intention to apply for an Environmental Authorisation and undertake a public participation process in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, 2014 (GN.R 982 of 2014). In terms of the EIA Regulations 2014, the proposed project requires Environmental Authorisation as it triggers Activity 18 of EIA Regulation Listing Notice 2 of 2014, and is subject to a Scoping and EIA process.
SLR Consulting (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd has been appointed as the independent environmental assessment practitioner responsible for undertaking the required environmental assessment and conducting the public participation process. The application will be subject to a scoping and environmental impact assessment process as stipulated in the EIA Regulations, 2014 made under Section 24(5) of the NEMA. The Scoping Report will be made available for review for review following the submission of the Application for Environmental Authorisation.

Status

Notice is hereby given that the updated Scoping Report, inclusive of Plan of Study for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and associated appendices has been submitted to the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) on 16 September 2024.

An electronic copy of the Scoping Report and appendices are available below.

Thank you for submitting comments and questions during this period. For responses to these, please refer to the Comments and Responses Report, Appendix C7.

All registered Interested and Affected Parties will be notified of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resource’s (DMPR) decision on the Scoping Report and Plan of Study for EIA.

By registering on the Project database, you consent to SLR managing your information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (No. 4 of 2013). This includes (1) retaining and using your Personal Information as part of a contact database for this and/or other EIAs, (2) contacting you regarding this and/or other EIA processes, (3) disclosing the database to other authorised parties for lawful purposes, (4) processing it for lawful purposes, and (5) including correspondence received in EIA Reports. You may request SLR to delete your personal information from the Project database or exclude comments from EIA Reports at any time.