Rhino Oil and Gas - Proposed Exploration Well Drilling in Targeted Areas of Interest in the Free State Province (ER Ref: 12/3/318)

Rhino Oil and Gas Exploration South Africa (Pty) Ltd (Rhino Oil and Gas) intend to make an application for:

An amendment to the existing Exploration Right (ER) and Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) in terms of Section 102 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, (No 28 of 2002) {MPRDA); and

An Environmental Authorisation (EA) in terms of Chapter 5 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA).

Rhino Oil and Gas hold an ER and EA to explore for petroleum resources in the Free State Province of South Africa (reference 12/3/318 (ER 318)). The granted EA and ER permitted Rhino Oil and Gas to undertake an exploration work programme involving desktop studies and an aerial gradiometry gravity survey.

Rhino Oil and Gas undertook the studies and survey, and now proposes to advance exploration by drilling up to 40 exploration wells in three Target Areas within the ER. The specific well locations within the Target Areas have been identified and detailed in the Environmental Impact Assessment report. No hydraulic fracturing or fracking is proposed.

SLR Consulting (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 (GNR 982) made under Section 24(5) of the NEMA.

An Environmental Authorisation was granted by the National Department of Mineral Resources and a statutory appeal period followed the issuing of the EA, and one appeal was received.

Status

The Appeal Regulations now allow for the submission of a responding statement within 20 days, whereafter the appeal authority (Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment [DFFE]) will consider and decide on the appeal. Registered I&APs will be informed by the appeal authority of the appeal decision.