Russia, South Africa Discuss Cooperation in Hydrocarbons Production

Russia and South Africa are in talks on the cooperation of companies in the production of hydrocarbon raw materials, Russian Energy Ministry said on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has discussed with his South African counterpart Mmamoloko Kubayi the cooperation of companies in the production of hydrocarbon raw materials in this republic, according to the ministry.

"Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has met with Minister of Energy of South Africa Mmamoloko Kubayi. The two sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. They discussed the cooperation of the companies from the two countries in hydrocarbon exploration and production projects in South Africa, cooperation in the nuclear energy sphere, construction and modernization of power generation facilities in South Africa," the ministry said Monday.

During the talks, the Russian minister thanked his counterpart for supporting Russia's initiative to create BRICS Energy Research Platform in the framework of BRICS energy ministers' meeting in Beijing on June 7.

"The launch of the platform will facilitate the expansion of the dialogue between the participating states on the energy track, which includes the joint formation and verification of forecasts and assessments of the development of world energy sector," Novak said.

According to US Energy Information Administration (EIA), South Africa's estimated recoverable offshore gas reserves stand at 9 trillion cubic feet (tcf). According to EIA, the country produced an average of 136,000 barrels of oil per day in 2016.