The small Southern African republic of Lesotho has no known oil or gas reserves and therefore no upstream oil industry. Exploration for oil was undertaken in the 1970s in the Mahobong area but proved unsuccessful. Since then no further exploration has taken place and therefore the possibility of Lesotho reducing its reliance on South Africa for energy is limited.
The country is dependent on surrounding South Africa for 95% of its imports, including all of its energy requirements. These include refined petroleum products, electricity, coal and fuelwood. Coal is the major energy source consumed in Lesotho supplying 87% of its commercial energy needs with oil only supplying 6,5%. In the downstream oil industry, consumption of liquid fuel products in 1997 was 103 000 metric tons.
The oil industry in Lesotho is regulated by the Ministry of Water, Energy and Mines. The Energy Planning unit (EPU), a division within the Ministry of Water, Energy and Mines is responsible for implementing appropriate energy policy and a program for the production, storage and distribution and use of all forms of energy.
