OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2012.  Dr. Mohammad Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar, and Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Petroleum, visited South Africa from 9 to 11 September and met the South African Minister of Energy, Minister Dipuo Peters. Minister Al-Sada also met with David Constable, Chief Executive Officer of Sasol during his visit.

Minister Al-Sada was in South Africa to chair the quarterly board meeting of ORYX GTL, one of the largest commercial gas-to-liquids (GTL) operations in the world with a capacity of 32,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Minister Al-Sada and Mr Constable held further discussions to canvas ways of further capitalising on the success of Sasol’s GTL technology and its implementation in Qatar.

H.E. Dr. Al-Sada commented, “I am very pleased with the success of ORYX GTL and the role it has played in establishing Qatar as the GTL capital of the world. We are pleased to have Sasol as a partner and look forward to our ongoing journey together, as ORYX GTL continues its success."

ORYX GTL is a joint venture between Sasol and Qatar Petroleum. The ORYX GTL plant is Sasol’s flagship world-scale GTL facility that uses Sasol proprietary GTL technology to convert natural gas into high-value product streams, including liquid fuels, chemicals and lower-carbon electricity.

“Under the vision of HH the Emir of the State of Qatar, the development of ORYX GTL has been a game-changer in the global energy sector. This groundbreaking venture shows how, with strong government support, abundant natural gas resources, and innovative technologies, we can work together to deliver world-class products to benefit millions of customers. Sasol looks forward to an exciting future ahead with its partner, Qatar Petroleum, in advancing further opportunities,” said Mr Constable.

Minister Al-Sada and Mr Constable also recognised ORYX GTL’s two significant milestones. The company achieved a world-class safety performance of 0.00 TRIR, which represents 365 days without a single recordable incident. In addition to this impressive safety performance, ORYX GTL also maintained 100% plant availability and outstanding production performances with an average production rate above design capacity for the last six months.

During his visit to South Africa, Minister Al-Sada visited Sasol Secunda facilities, where Sasol showcased its proprietary technology. With a capacity of 160,000 bbpd, the Secunda facility in South Africa is Sasol’s largest operation and spans 13 square kilometers.

He also visited Sasol Research Facilities at Sasolburg and was shown a demonstration of Sasol’s state-of-the-art technologies, which included coal and gas processing, and chemical technologies, amongst others.