Oil, gas an ‘illusionary’ quick fix 23 Apr 2021 Paradox: Workers secure beams at the crude oil storage and blending facility in Saldanha Bay in 2019. South Africa has pushed the offshore oil and gas industry, exposing contradictions with its climate change commitments. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty Images) This is the thrust of a new report, A Literature Review of the Socioeconomic Consequences of Offshore Oil and Gas Activities in South Africa. “We find that there is little evidence from elsewhere in Africa that the exploitation of oil and gas resources naturally leads to improvements in the lives of those living and working in oil and gas-rich areas,” says the report’s author, Gillian Hamilton, of the nonprofit Green Connection.