Shell and South Africa Battle Court Ruling That Halted Major Offshore Drilling Plans
Shell and the South African government are fighting back against a court decision that scrapped environmental authorization for massive oil and gas drilling operations off the country’s southwest coast. The Western Cape High Court ruled against the environmental approval for Block 5/6/7, where Shell and France’s TotalEnergies had planned extensive offshore drilling activities.
Judge Mangcu-Lockwood’s ruling exposed critical flaws in how environmental and social risks were evaluated, highlighting five major issues: inadequate disaster impact studies for local communities, violations of coastal protection laws, improper climate change assessments, failure to assess cross-border environmental harm, and keeping the public in the dark about emergency response plans. The offshore block is jointly owned by South Africa’s state oil company PetroSA, TotalEnergies, and Shell, with the French firm originally set to act as operator before transferring environmental authorization to Shell for drilling operations.
Shahil Singh, Legal Advisor to The Green Connection, confirmed that both the state and Shell have filed applications for leave to appeal, seeking permission to challenge the High Court decision. “While this is disappointing, we are hopeful that the High Court will uphold its ruling, which was a big win for human rights and climate justice,” Singh stated, emphasizing that the public never had meaningful opportunity to review updated Oil Spill and Blowout Contingency Plans. The environmental groups argue the court’s decision is legally sound and consistent with constitutional and environmental laws requiring precaution, transparency, and public participation. The August 13 judgment remains binding while the High Court decides whether to grant leave to appeal.
Source: offshore-energy.biz
