PetroSA, the South African national oil company, has received regulatory approval from the government to start gas feedstock production at the company’s offshore Ikhwezi gas project that is valued at $1 billion; this was disclosed by the company on Tuesday.

Named “F-O”, the offshore gas field is sited off South Africa’s south coast with 1 trillion cubic feet (TFC) of gas, and an upside of 2-3 TFC.

In November, it is expected that drilling for five of Project Ikhwezi’s wells would have commenced, while first gas production is scheduled for mid-2013, PetroSA said.