* Karoo believed to hold vast shale gas reserves
* Shell licence application nearly four years old
* Firm has committed $200 million to exploration
By Ed Cropley
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell pushed South Africa on Wednesday to decide on its application,now nearly four years old, to explore for shale gas in theKaroo, a pristine semi-desert that may contain some of theworld's largest reserves.
Shell's application in early 2011 for an exploration licencein the Karoo, which the U.S. Energy Information Administrationsays may hold up to 390 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of technicallyrecoverable reserves, caused an uproar from farmers and greengroups, and an 18-month moratorium on the issuing of permits.
A year ago, several ministers -- including then-miningminister Susan Shabangu -- suggested hydraulic fracturing, orfracking, exploration licences were about to be issued but nonehas been forthcoming.
The mining ministry has failed to clarify reasons for thedelay, either to Reuters or Shell.
"Why it is taking so long is a conundrum that we are tryingto figure out," Shell South Africa chairman Bonang Mohale told anews conference. "We were hoping that by now we would have atleast started the exploration process."
With energy firms chasing large natural gas finds in placessuch as Mozambique, Brazil and China, South Africa couldill-afford to carry on delaying much longer, he added.
"Capital is moving," he said. "My guess is that we areprobably months away, not years away, from the issuing ofexploration rights."
The U.S. estimates give South Africa the world'seighth-biggest shale reserves, with nearly two thirds thedeposits estimated in the United States.
Shell says it is committed to investing $200 million in gasexploration in the area, which lies at the underdeveloped heartof Africa's most advanced economy.
A Shell-commissioned study by Cape Town-based consultancyEconometrix suggests extracting 50 tcf of gas would add $20billion, or 0.5 percent of GDP, annually for 25 years to aneconomy that has always been a major energy importer.
The study also suggests it would create 700,000 jobs, amajor draw for a government trying and failing to come up withanswers to persistent 25 percent unemployment.
Opponents of shale gas fracking say the government hasfailed to introduce a suitably robust regulatory framework toprevent damage to the delicate environment, ecosystems and watersupplies of the Karoo.
The spokeswoman for the mining ministry did not respond torequests for comment.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
