Middle East tensions set to push oil prices higher: Mantashe – SABC News

Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe says the evolving tensions in the Middle East is having a negative impact on global oil prices.
Mantashe says oil prices are expected to increase sharply next month due to the conflict in the region.
He was delivering the keynote address at the 5th annual Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference, in Cape Town.
Israel and America’s war against Iran has caused massive shocks to the oil price.

This year’s edition of the Southern Africa Oil & Gas Conference takes place at the time of heightened geopolitical tensions that continue to create uncertainty & volatility in the global oil markets. Fuel supply chains have experienced disruptions pic.twitter.com/qvdG5J3JH4
— Gwede Mantashe (@GwedeMantashe1) March 16, 2026

The Conference brings together upstream oil and gas industry investors and other operators. This to identify strategies to accelerate development of existing discoveries and further exploration of oil and gas resources.
Mantashe sees the conference as a platform to explore ways to mitigate the high oil prices.
He adds that South Africa has significant offshore petroleum potential, including major gas discoveries but it has not been able to fully explore and exploit this potential due to ongoing blockages against oil and gas development due to environmental protection protests.
Mantashe says the sustainable long-term solutions to challenges facing the petroleum industry can only be achieved through the rigorous exploration of petroleum resources.
“The persistent opposition from the environmental lobby is quite clearly a liability for us in South Africa. We have potential to exploit oil and gas but for every oil and gas project we end up in court. So, it is important for the industry to understand that and work with us on that,” says Mantashe.
Mantashe says the evolving tensions in the Middle East have an impact on global oil prices.
“If Iran closes the route and no oil can pass through, then we must prepare for higher oil prices. What will help us is understanding that the conflict in the Middle East is affecting the world’s markets, not just us. The question then is: when fuel prices increase substantially, what are we going to do?” he adds.
Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Director-General Jacob Mbele says the framework they are busy with will boost capacity for petroleum refineries in South Africa, which could help protect the country’s economy against sharp increases in the oil price.
“In the oil price situation, we have been actively engaging with this work. The feedback we received was that there was no need at the time, but this crisis has made all of us realize that what we wanted to do back then is even more necessary now, and we need to move with greater speed,” says Mbele.
The dDpartment says it continues to reform its legislative framework to promote and advance the petroleum sector so that it can make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s economy.
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