please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message sasol limited trading name sasol type public company traded as nyse ssl jse sol industry oil and gas chemical predecessor suid afrikaanse steenkool olie en gasmaatskappy founded 1950 1950 headquarters johannesburg south africa key people bongani nqwababa and stephen cornell joint ceos revenue us 21.78 billion 1 operating income us 4.72 billion 1 net income us 3.11 billion 1 number of employees 30 400 website www.sasol.com sasol limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in johannesburg south africa . the company was formed in 1950 in sasolburg south africa and is the world s first oil from gas company . 2 it develops and commercialises technologies including synthetic fuels technologies and produces different liquid fuels chemicals and electricity . 3 sasol is listed on the johannesburg stock exchange jse sol and the new york stock exchange nyse ssl . major shareholders include the south african government employees pension fund 4 industrial development corporation 5 of south africa limited idc allan gray investment counsel 6 coronation fund managers investec asset management 7 and others . 8 sasol employs 30 400 people worldwide and has operations in 36 countries . 9 it is the largest corporate taxpayer in south africa . 10 on june 8 2015 the president and chief operating officer david constable announced he would not be renewing his contract when it expires on june 30 2016 . he will transition into an advisory role from july 2016 . 11 contents 1 operations 2 operating business units 3 regional operating hubs 4 strategic business units 5 group functions 6 major projects 6.1 united states 6.2 qatar 6.3 uzbekistan 6.4 mozambique 7 technology 7.1 fischer tropsch processes 7.2 tetramerisation 7.3 natref refinery 8 history 8.1 the incorporation of sasol 8.2 coal mining 8.3 fischer tropsch reactor technology 8.4 from fuels to chemicals 9 social investments and sponsorship 10 controversies 11 see also 12 references 13 external links operations edit sasol has exploration development production marketing and sales operations in 36 countries across the world including southern africa the rest of africa the americas europe middle east northern asia asia southeast asia far east and australasia . 12 the sasol group s structure is organised into two upstream business units three regional operating hubs and four customer facing strategic business units . 9 operating business units edit operating business units comprise the mining division and exploration and production of oil and gas activities focused on feed stock supply . 13 sasol mining operates six coal mines that supply feed stock for secunda sasol synfuels and sasolburg sasolburg operations complexes in south africa . while the coal supplied to sasol synfuels is mainly used as gasification feed stock some is used to generate electricity . the coal supplied to the sasolburg operations is used to generate electricity and steam . coal is also exported from the twistdraai export plant to international power generation customers . sasol exploration and production international sepi develops and manages the group s upstream interests in oil and gas exploration and production in mozambique south africa canada gabon and australia . 14 regional operating hubs edit these include operations in southern africa north america and eurasia . 15 the southern african operations business cluster is responsible for sasol s entire southern africa operations portfolio which comprise all downstream operations and related infrastructure in the region . this combined operational portfolio has simplified and consolidated responsibilities relating to the company s operating facilities in secunda which are divided into a synthetic fuels and chemicals component sasolburg natref sasol s joint venture inland refinery with total sa and satellite operations a consolidation of all sasol s operating activities outside of secunda and sasolburg . 16 the international operations business cluster is responsible for sasol s international operations in eurasia and north america which include its us mega projects in lake charles louisiana . 17 strategic business units edit energy business southern africa energy international energy the energy business manages the marketing and sales of all oil gas and electricity products in southern africa which have been consolidated under a single umbrella . in addition this cluster oversees sasol s international gtl gas to liquids ventures in qatar nigeria and uzbekistan . 18 chemical business base chemicals performance chemicals the global chemicals business includes the marketing and sales of all chemical products both in southern africa and internationally . the chemicals business is divided into two niche groupings ; base chemicals where its fertilisers polymers and solvents products lie and performance chemicals comprising key products which include surfactants surfactant intermediates fatty alcohols linear alkyl benzene lab short chain linear alpha olefins ethylene petrolatum paraffin waxes synthetic waxes cresylic acids high quality carbon solutions as well as high purity and ultra high purity alumina and a speciality gases sub division . 19 in south africa the chemical businesses are integrated in the fischer tropsch value chain . outside south africa the chemical businesses are operated based on backward integration into feed stock and or competitive market positions . group functions edit group technology manages the research and development technology innovation and management engineering services and capital project management portfolios . group technology includes research and technology r & t engineering and project services and capital projects . 20 major projects edit sasol olefins and surfactants lake charles louisiana united states edit sasol has granted final approval for a us 8.1 billion ethane cracker and derivatives plant and an integrated gtl and chemicals facility in westlake and almost the entire community of mossville both across the calcasieu river from lake charles louisiana and is the largest foreign investment in the history of the state of louisiana . it was stated once commissioned this world scale petrochemicals complex will roughly triple the company s chemical production capacity in the united states enabling sasol to further strengthen its position in a growing global chemicals market . the u.s. gulf coast s robust infrastructure for transporting and storing abundant low cost ethane was a key driver in the decision to invest in america . the ethane cracker will also be supported by six chemical manufacturing plants . 21 22 23 24 25 by january 2015 construction was in full swing . in 2016 sasol is to begin construction on a gas to liquids facility that will produce up to 96 000 barrels of diesel fuel and other liquids by converting natural gas . when completed the project will encompass 3 034 acres 1 228 ha or approximately 4.75 square miles . at peak the project will create 5000 construction and 1200 permanent jobs and cost 11 billion to 14 billion . 26 qatar edit oryx gtl plant qatar main article oryx gtl the oryx gtl plant in qatar is a joint venture between sasol and qatar petroleum launched in 2007 . the more than 32 000 barrels per day 5 100 m3 d plant produces a combination of gtl diesel gtl naphtha and liquid petroleum gas . 27 28 uzbekistan edit main article uzbekistan gtl the proposed uzbekistan gtl project is a partnership between sasol uzbekneftegaz and petronas . 29 30 31 mozambique edit sasol gas pipeline temane mozambique this gas project came into operation in 2004 and is a joint venture agreement between sasol petroleum international empresa nacional de hidrocarbonetos enh and the international finance corporation . sasol is developing a 140 mw gas fired electricity generation plant in partnership with power utility edm . 32 technology edit fischer tropsch processes edit the sasol slurry phase distillate spdtm process transform natural gas into energy and chemical products including transport fuels base oils waxes paraffins and naphtha . 33 the three stage process combines three proprietary technologies . natural gas is combined with oxygen to form a syngas which is then subjected to a fischer tropsch conversion resulting in waxy syncrude . finally this is cracked down to produce the end product . the strength of the sasol spdtm process is not simply in the inherent quality of the three component technologies but more importantly how they are combined and integrated to increase efficiencies and optimise output . this integration is grounded in sasol s 60 years experience in synthetic fuels production . the liquid fuels produced through its gtl and ctl technologies are high performance low emission products . the synthetic gtl based diesel is an environmentally cleaner burning fuel as it leads to a reduction in carbon monoxide hydrocarbon and particulate matter without compromising nox emissions even when compared to european sulfur free diesel . 34 a high temperature syngas conversion process is operated in secunda in a series of 10 sasol advanced synthol sastm reactors at high pressure with the aid of an iron based fischer tropsch catalyst at about 350 c to yield primarily c1 c20 range hydrocarbons . the process also produces water and oxygenated hydrocarbons which are then purified and marketed . the c2 stream is split into ethylene and ethane . the ethane is further cracked to yield additional ethylene which are then converted into polyethylene for the polymer business . propylene from secunda and sasolburg plants are also converted into high value products such as polypropylene butanol butyl acrylate and ethyle acrylate . the acrylates are used to make superabsorbent polymers which are used in diapers . through proprietary technology 1 hexene 1 octene and 1 pentene are recovered from the oil stream . international customers use these as co monomers for making speciality grade polymers . some of the higher olefins c11 c12 are converted into detergent range alcohols . 35 a low temperature syngas conversion process is operated in sasolburg based on an iron based catalyst in fixed bed tubular and sasol slurry phase distillate processes to produce mainly linear hydrocarbon waxes and paraffins . the syngas mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide is also converted in methanol butanol and ammonia . ammonia is then further converted into nitric acid and ammonium based fertilizers and explosives . tetramerisation edit in 1997 sasol technology research and development began research on the selective trimerisation of ethylene to 1 hexene . this led to the development and patenting of 6 trimerisation catalyst systems . a groundbreaking innovation was made in 2002 with the discovery of a tetramerisation catalyst that could make 1 octene in high selectivity . this was considered impossible by international experts in the field . construction of this first of a kind plant in lake charles louisiana is under way . the ready for commissioning date is august 2013 . 36 natref refinery edit sasol is also involved in conventional oil refinery . the natref refinery was commissioned in sasolburg in 1971 . the refinery is a joint venture between sasol ltd and total south africa pty ltd. sasol has a 63 64 percent interest in natref and total south africa a 36 36 percent shareholding . the refining capacity of natref to 108 500 barrels per day . natref is one of the only inland refineries in south africa . it was designed to get the most out of crude oil and is equipped with state of the art technology . the refinery uses the bottoms upgrading refining process using medium gravity crude oil and is capable of producing 70 % more white product than coastal refineries that have to rely on heavy fuel oil . some of the products produced from the refinery are diesel petrol jet fuel lpg illuminating paraffin bitumen and sulfur . natref has been certified in terms of the iso 14001 environmental management system . 37 38 history edit the incorporation of sasol edit south africa has large deposits of coal which had low commercial value due to its high fly ash content . it was thought that if this coal could be used to produce synthetic oil