Sasol

Infobox_Company
company_name = Sasol Limited
company_
company_type = Public (Nyse|SSL)
foundation = 1950
location = flagicon|South_Africa Johannesburg, South Africa
key_people = Pat Davies, CEO
num_employees = 33,928
industry = Chemicals,
petrochemicals,
fuels and oils,
natural gas
revenue = profit$4.153 billion USD (2006)
homepage = [http://www.sasol.com/ Main Site]

Sasol (originally Afrikaans for "Suid-Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie" - South African Coal and Oil) is a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels. In particular, they produce petrol and diesel profitably from coal and natural gas using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The company has factories at Sasolburg and Secunda and has taken a stake in projects under construction in Qatar (Oryx GTL), Iran (Arya Polymers) and Nigeria (Escravos GTL).

Sasol is a global petrochemical group producing fuels and chemicals. Sasol Limited, the holding company of the Sasol group, is jointly listed on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges.

Sasol primary business is based on CTL (coal-to-liquid) and GTL (gas-to-liquid) technology and this differentiates it from other petrochemical companies. CTL and GTL plants convert coal and natural gas respectively into liquid fuels. Sasol's early experience was in South Africa. Sasol's original CTL plant at Sasolburg was commissioned in 1955. It was subsequently converted into a GTL facility and is still in operation today. Two large CTL production facilities were commissioned in the early 1980s in Secunda and now form the single largest and most profitable asset in Sasol's global portfolio. In the early 1990s, at the request of the South African Government, Sasol licensed a GTL process to PetroSA, the South African state-owned oil company. This plant is also still in operation today.

During the mid-1990s, Sasol sought to globalise by approaching natural gas and coal resource owners to form CTL and GTL joint venture companies. Sasol owns a stake in the Oryx GTL plant in Qatar that was commissioned in 2006/7. Sasol also has an economic interest in the Escravos GTL plant, which is currently being constructed in Nigeria and is due to be commissioned in 2011. Sasol is currently also conducting feasibility studies relating to potential CTL plants in China and South Africa. There are four basic phases in a CTL or GTL plant: (i) gasifying the coal into synthesis gas or reforming natural gas into synthesis gas, which is primarily a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen; (ii) purification of the synthesis gas to remove impurities such as sulphur; (iii) turning the gas into a liquid; and (iv) processing that liquid into fuel.

ponsorship

Sasol were the title sponsors of the Jordan Grand Prix team during the 1993 and 1994 Formula One World Championship season.

Sasol is the current shirt sponsor of the Springboks (the South Africa national rugby union team) and the Sasol Tigers aerobatic team flying Aero L-29 Delfin.

External links

* [http://www.sasol.com Sasol] Official website
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2152036/?nav=ais How Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa perfected one of the world's most exciting new fuel sources.] Slate Magazine
* [http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/8428/South_Africa/Mpumalanga/Secunda/Sasols_Secunda_plant Google Maps view of Sasol's Secunda plant]
* [http://www.scifest.org.za Sasol SciFest, part of Sasol's investment in science education in South Africa]
* [http://www.sasol.com/sasol_internet/frontend/navigation.jsp?navid=1&rootid=1 Sasol home page]