Companies respond to youth march against oil drilling

TWO major companies have responded to a youth protest that called for an end to oil and gas drilling off Durban’s coast.  Organised by Oceans Not Oil and spearheaded by global youth campaign, Friday’s for Future, the march saw youth march to various companies in uMhlanga identified as Sasol shareholders to deliver their memorandum on Friday, 24 May. This follows a previous protest to the Italian Consulate on Friday, 10 May.

The memorandum, which was read by Siyabonga Nontlanga, pointed to climate change and sustainability in its critique of oil drilling.

Gilbert Yevi, Senior Vice President for Sasol Exploration and Production International responded to the claims.

Also read: WATCH: Protest action on uMhlanga Boulevard

“Sasol, together with Eni South Africa BV (Eni), hold the Exploration Right for Block ER236 off the East Coast of South Africa with Eni as the operator. Our objective is to find hydrocarbons that we could use to feed into South Africa’s energy mix. Sasol chose to partner with Eni on this project because Eni is a global leader in deep-water hydrocarbon exploration and production with some of the best upstream oil and gas expertise in the business. This expertise is essential particularly given the nature of the deep waters of the KwaZulu-Natal coast,” he said.

Rob Lewensen,  Head of ESG Engagement at Old Mutual said: “We welcome the memorandum.  Sasol is a diversified international extraction and chemicals company of which we do have exposure in our investment portfolios. We prefer to use our shareholdings in companies to engage with these companies in order to drive change and achieve a beneficial outcome for all, rather than divesting the shares which would then leave us without any further influence as shareholders.

“We have been invested in Sasol for a number of years and continue to deeply interrogate their environmental risk, particularly engaging with the company on their climate change risk and their participation in the SA Human Rights inquiry around the Vaal River pollution. We take these issues into consideration in our investment decision-making process, however we do have to balance this against the social issues related to the company, such as the fact that they are one of South Africa’s largest tax payers and one of the country’s largest employers. We would be interested in engaging further with the environmentalist lobby groups on their concerns listed in the memorandum with which they approached our offices in KZN in order to better understand them.”

Also read: WATCH: The people have spoken-oceans not oil

“Both Sasol and Eni have demonstrated experience in successful oil and gas exploration with a track record in undertaking such projects safely, responsibly and sustainably. We are committed to compliance with all applicable laws and requirements, and in working in a transparent manner with the authorities in addressing any compliance challenges that may arise,”  added Yevi.

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