SEO Riders:
– Environmentalists oppose TotalEnergies’ offshore drilling project
– Fears over marine life, fisheries, and climate from deep-sea oil well
– Critics question consultation and economic claims in project report
Environmental advocates Natural Justice and The Green Connection have condemned TotalEnergies’ plan to drill what would be the world’s deepest offshore oil well in the Deep Western Orange Basin (DWOB South). The well, projected at 3,900 metres deep and about 211 km off the Saldanha coast, is described by the groups as reckless and unjust. They warn it could endanger marine biodiversity, threaten the livelihoods of small-scale fisher families, and cause devastating oil spills—risks they argue have been downplayed in the company’s Draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Report (DESIAR). The report’s claim that a blow-out could be capped within 20 days has also been dismissed as unrealistic given the extreme depth of the proposed drilling.
The organisations further criticised governance and transparency issues, citing inadequate consultation with affected coastal communities, inaccessible baseline data, and little consideration of the climate and cumulative environmental impacts. They stressed that promises of economic benefit are overstated, as most skilled jobs would go to foreign contractors, while sustainable local industries such as fishing and tourism could suffer lasting damage.