Creamer Media's Mining Weekly: Shale Gas Laws Still Scaring Foreign Investors

Concern about the free stake the South African government will take in shale gas projects continues to be the main obstacle to foreign investment in exploration in that field, mineral resources officials told MPs on Tuesday.

“The definition of free carry interest in the bill lent itself to a multiplicity of interpretations, so companies have approached us and said they would really like to have some clarity as to what we meant,” the department of mineral resources’ deputy director general Mosa Mabuza told Parliament’s portfolio committee on mineral resources.

He said foreign companies had identified this as their single biggest obstacle to investment and their attitude was understandable given the vast capital input exploration for shale gas entailed.

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