PetroSA (The Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa ( SOC)

Ltd. A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...

) is the

national oil company A national oil company (NOC) is an oil and gas company fully or in the majority-owned by a national government. According to the World Bank, NOCs accounted for 75% global oil production and controlled 90% of proven oil reserves in 2010. Due to thei ...

(NOC) of South Africa. Its main activities are the extraction of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

from offshore fields about 89 km from

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

, the production of synthetic fuels from this gas through a

gas to liquids Gas to liquids (GTL) is a refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel. Methane-rich gases are converted into liquid synthetic fuels. Two general strategies ...

(GTL) process, and the extraction of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

from oil fields off the South Coast of South Africa. The GTL Refinery is located in Mossel Bay. Its capacity is about 45 000 bpd and processes both the gas and condensate to produce liquid fuels and chemicals. The company is also involved in the exploration for and development of new sources of oil and gas.

History

PetroSA was formed in January 2002 from the merger of three previous entities: Mossgas (Pty) Limited, Soekor (Pty) Limited, and parts of the Strategic Fuel Fund Association. Soekor was divided into parts to provide staff for PetroSA and also for the Petroleum Agency of South Africa, otherwise known as PASA. Here are some of the key milestones leading up to this historic merger: * 1965 - Following the establishment of Soekor, the first land search for oil commences in

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the Beau ...

, Western Cape. Small accumulations of oil are found, but they are non-commercial. * 1969 - First offshore well drilled by Superior Group. Natural gas deposits are also discovered in the continental shelf complex off the Southern Cape coast. * 1970 - Soekor commences offshore drilling in a joint venture with Rand Mines and US Natural Resources. * 1973 - Soekor drills its own first offshore well. * 1978 - Soekor terminates its land search for oil. * 2002 - President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

launches PetroSA, the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of the Republic of South Africa.

Recent events

* 2017 - PetroSA signed $400m deal with Russian exploration company Rosgeo. *2018 – Energy Minister of South Africa

Jeff Radebe Jeffrey Thamsanqa "Jeff" Radebe (born 18 February 1953) is a South African politician who was last appointed as Minister of Energy by Cyril Ramaphosa on 26 February 2018. He served in the government of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency ...

rejected PetroSA's proposal to purchase 23 million barrels of oil from Kase Lawal for $1.52 billion over a 5-year period, deeming the deal too risky.

Soekor

Soekor Pty Ltd. (from Suidelike Olie Eksplorasie Korporasie; 'Southern Oil Exploration Corporation') was South Africa's national oil company until 2002, when it was merged with Mossgas Pty Ltd to form PetroSA. Soekor was the operator and developer of the first oilfield development in South Africa, the Oribi field discovered in 1990. Soekor owned 80% of the field's exploration licensing.

Petroleum Agency of South Africa

Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) is the state-regulator in the field of on-shore and off-shore oil and

gas exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

. In June 2018 PASA imposed temporary licensing restrictions in order to reform the country's oil and gas exploration licensing system.

Controversy

The company was implicated in a corruption scandal, dubbed "Oilgate" by the media, when it was reported that it had transferred R11 million to the ruling African National Congress in the run-up to the 2004 elections.

Leadership

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Oil and gas companies of South Africa

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Government-owned companies of South Africa Companies based in Cape Town Energy companies established in 1965 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1965