Renergen Energy holds a 100% interest across 462,000 acres in the onshore Free State.

The project encompasses three gas fields, Welkom, Virginia, and Theunissen. Renergen is developing the fields into a major LNG project. The acreage also holds high quality helium resources which would similarly be liquified and developed in tandem.

Phase 1 of the project is well underway and is expected to come online this year, delivering volumes of 350kg of helium and 2500 gigajoules of LNG per day.

On Wednesday, Renergen announced it has contracted EPCM Holdings for the front-end engineering and design contract for its Phase 2 gas gathering system and pipeline.

EPCM is currently working on construction of Phase 1 infrastructure.

A second FEED contract was awarded to Saipem for downstream facilities including the liquefaction plant and associated infrastructure.

Renergen also announced a contract to consultant Sproule to certify new reserves based on additional data gathered during the next drilling campaign.

“Working with organisations like Saipem, EPCM and Spoule brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and technical capability to the overall project, which we believe will be of great benefit to our stakeholders and the long-term value of the Virginia Gas Project,” CEO Stefano Marani said.

“This is a significant step forward in the planning of Phase 2, as it not only defines the total capital expenditure required but will clearly help define the project’s financial parameters.”

LNG produced from both Phase 1 and Phase 2 will go to the domestic market. Phase 1 gas supply has already been contracted to French supermajor Total for its downstream retail arm as trucking fuel, to replace diesel.

Helium produced from Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be exported to the international market.

Last year Renergen signed an offtake agreement with Linde Group for helium.

Paul Hunt
27 January 2021
Energy News Bulletin