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Hello, natural gasdeposits
The Energy Information Administration estimates that South Africa could have as much as 485 trillion cubic feet of shale gas reserves. Right now gas accounts for only 3% of the country's energy supply. The country's main gas operator, Sasol, produces the gas in Mozambique and then ships it via a 535-mile pipeline.

When gas is available, it is much easier to bring it onto the grid than it is to build a new coal-fired power plant to meet demand. A recent poll commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell found that 73% of South Africans are open to the idea of natural gas extraction in the Karoo region, if initial exploration proves reserves are commercially viable. Farmers in the Karoo feel differently, and South Africa may well end up facing the same local opposition to hydraulic fracturing that occurs in the U.S.