Maputo, Mozambique, 16 Jan – South African petrochemical group Sasol said Tuesday it aimed to expand its gas exploration and production area in Mozambique in the areas of Temane and Pande, in Inhambane province.

Research company KPMG in Mozambique noted in a report published Tuesday that Sasol’s Mozambique director, Jan Stander, had said that the company, “is very focused on prospecting services in areas located on the outskirts of fields that are already being explored, in order to find extra gas.”

“The market exists, we are in the process of exploring and if we are successful, we can expand the business,” he added.

Sasol’s gas processing unit in Mozambique, representing a US$1.2 billion investment and concluded in 2004, has an annual production capacity of 80 million gigajoules, which in the next few years will gradually be increased to 120 million annually.

“The objective that we set out to reach when we established the business in Mozambique, in terms of volume of gas and prices, is now being reached. In terms of the business itself we are quite satisfied,” Stander said.

The gas is extracted from the Temane and Pande reserves and after it is processed is sent through an 865-kilometer pipeline to Secunda, in South Africa, where it goes into the domestic distribution network.

In mid-2005, Sasol signed an agreement with the Mozambique government to explore an offshore area of over 11,000 square kilometers off the Mozambique coast.(macauhub)