South Africa’s Top Court Blocks Shell Wild Coast Exploration

South Africa’s Constitutional Court has blocked Shell-led exploration along the country’s Wild Coast, adding another legal setback to an offshore sector already struggling to keep pace with neighboring Namibia.

The country’s highest court on Friday overturned a 2024 Supreme Court of Appeal ruling that had preserved a pathway for Shell and Impact Africa to conduct seismic surveys off South Africa’s east coast under an exploration right granted in 2014.