Sasol technology and proven expertise in the fields of coal-to-liquids (CTL) and gas-to-liquids (GTL) will come under the spotlight as international energy experts converge on Johannesburg from 25 to 29 September for the 18th World Petroleum Congress.
Sasol is one of the gold sponsors of the WPC and co-sponsor of Africa Night, a social event that will provide global delegates with a true taste of African hospitality.
"The high oil price has renewed international focus on Sasol's pioneering proprietary Fischer-Tropsch technology in the fields of CTL and GTL. These technologies offer significant opportunities to the African continent as well as the rest of the world in unlocking hydrocarbon resources," says Sasol chief executive Pat Davies.
Numerous congress delegates have indicated that they will undertake technical visits to Sasol's synthetic fuels plant in Secunda. Sasol has more than 50 years of experience in CTL and operates the only commercial scale CTL facility in the world at which an oil equivalent of 160 000 barrels per day (bpd) of synthetic fuel is produced.
Many oil poor, coal rich countries from all over the world are expressing increased interest in CTL. Sasol is currently involved in a feasibility study with two Chinese companies and have identified two sites in the coal rich western part of China.
"We are studying the feasibility of two plants each with a capacity of nominally 80 000 bpd per site. We expect to complete the study by the end of 2005. We definitely see CTL as an emerging opportunity driven by growing imports of crude oil into China and the USA and world-wide concern regarding the security of oil supplies," says Davies.
Sasol is currently constructing the first commercial scale GTL plant outside South Africa at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, which will commence producing ultra clean diesel and naphtha in 2006. Its technology will also be used at Escravos in Nigeria (EGTL), where natural gas that is currently being flared, will be beneficiated by converting it into premium fuels. This plant is now in detail engineering procurement and construction phase.
"We are geared to develop a global GTL business producing about 450 000 bpd along with our partners within the next ten years in effort to establish market leadership and maximum value for products. We want to generate significant value throughout the entire value chain for Sasol and our partners," says Davies.
The need for GTL is growing and a new industry is being created. The estimated uncommitted global gas reserves are in the region of 2600 trillion cubic feet. Most of these reserves are remote from the market and it is Sasol's intention to assist host countries to monetise the vast natural gas resources efficiently and to implement GTL for value creation which for example could lead to the development of other petroleum complexes.
Davies says that Sasol's future success will demand that the group continues to drive the costs of technology down. Ongoing development of technology is key to delivering on GTL and CTL aspirations.
Sasol has created centres of excellence in R&D in South Africa and in Europe and has also formed alliances with international organisations to secure technology advancement and delivery. To this end, Sasol currently employs over 100 scientists with PhD's and 80 with MSc degrees.
"Catalyst development is an important focus area and we believe that scale will become even more important and that bigger is better. Likewise, unit productivity improvement will drive unit cost down and operational learning will reduce the design margins, while integrated projects will bring new opportunities to improve technology," says Davies.
Davies will chair the first plenary session of the WPC titled "The African Perspective" on Monday 26 September, and has been tasked to set the tone for the presentation and moderating discussions. Sasol will also present papers on GTL and research and technology.
For more information go to
www.sasol.com and click on the WPC logo.
Other speakers and officials to represent Sasol at the WPC include:
- Tuesday 27 September - 13h45 tot 15h45. The Ultimate Fuel Quality: Car manufacturers' and Refiner's view.
Sasol general manager technology, Dr Johan Botha will serve as panel member in this roundtable.
Gas-to-liquids Life Cycle Assessment Synthesis Report
Fred Goede of Sasol
- Thursday 29 September - 11h00 to 12h00. Gas-to-liquids: A Proven Route for Monetising Gas?
George Couvaras, CE of SasolChevron, South Africa, will deliver a paper dedicated to Sasol's GTL experience. The present status and trends of GTL will be reviewed.
Thursday 29 September 13h45 to 15h45. Clean Fuels and Petrochemicals at Sasol via SUPERFLEX.
Authors Sias Swart and Francois Moeller of Sasol Technology will deliver this paper.
Gas to Chemicals
Jan Fourie, former Sasol executive director will serve as vice-chairman of this discussion
Chemicals Refining from Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis
Paper by Arno de Klerk, Luis Dancuart and Dr. Dieter Leckel of Sasol Technology, Research and Technology.
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