Shale-gas aspirant Bundu Gas and Oil Exploration, which applied for a shale gas exploration right in South Africa’s Karoo basin in 2010, has revised its environmental management programme (EMP) and has appointed an independent environmental consultancy to begin consultations with interested and affected parties.

Bundu, which is a subsidiary of ASX-listed Challenger Energy, was one of three companies to apply for exploration rights ahead of the institution of a moratorium on shale-gas exploration and development activities – the other companies are Shell, which made applications over three areas, and Falcon Oil and Gas.

In October, the Petroleum Agency South Africa (Pasa) notified the applicants that it would proceed with the processing of applications received prior to February 1, 2011, while maintaining the moratorium on new applications.

The applicants were requested to augment their EMPs and, in accordance with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 2002, notify and consult with affected communities and parties in respect of any revisions. They were given until February 27, 2015, to complete the process.

Bundu had appointed Golder Associates, which undertook the update of the EMP, to commence “the process of notifying and consulting with interested and affected parties in respect of the revised document”.

Challenger MD Robert Willes said the EMP would be made available for public review from December 8, 2014, and would remain open for comment until February 16, 2015.

“We welcome this opportunity to progress the application process and look forward to engaging with local communities and stakeholders,” Willes said in a statement.

Challenger indicated that, pending the promulgation of new technical regulations on petroleum exploration and exploitation, the updated EMP described a revised work programme that included “only seismic studies and drilling”. The South African government had not yet allowed for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The document included an assessment of potential positive and negative impacts related to the proposed activities and outlined proposed mitigation measures to manage potential negative impacts.

Bundu’s application covered a 4 300 km² area in the Karoo, where State oil explorer Soekor conducted a drilling campaign in 1968. Gas from the well had reportedly flowed to surface from a vertical unstimulated well, which Willes described as a “promising indicator of potential”.