Building productive, sustainable alliances with partners across the petrochemical sector at home and abroad is vital to achieving our mandate. While fostering strategic relationships with state- and privately-owned enterprises worldwide, we also maintain strong links with our key Government partners at home, notably the Department of Energy (DOE) and Central Energy Fund (CEF). 


China In September 2011, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China’s state-owned petroleum and petrochemical enterprise, the Sinopec Group. Among other areas, the agreement paves the way for co-operation on developing a crude oil refinery, exploration activities and downstream opportunities. The Sinopec MoU followed an earlier MoU with one of Sinopec’s subsidiaries, Unipec, which ranks among the world’s biggest oil traders. 

Italy In June 2011, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company signed an MoU with Italian integrated energy company, Eni. Among other initiatives, we will explore the possibility of co-operating on projects elsewhere in Africa; investigate joint proposals for importing liquid natural gas (LNG); and join forces upstream to develop conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons. The agreement also anticipates that Eni could supply crude oil and refined products to South Africa. 

Korea In July 2011, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company signed an MoU with the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC). The agreement will ensure our two companies co-operate on the exchange of commercial and technical information about hydrocarbon exploration and production in South Africa and the rest of the continent. 

General Electric In September 2011, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company signed an MoU with General Electric (GE). The agreement proposes co-operation in several areas. They include optimising energy and water efficiency at the WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company refinery; upstream projects, such as enhanced heavy oil recovery; greenfield projects, such as developing a utility island for the Mthombo refinery. The MoU also covers renewable energy, technology support, leadership development and technical training. 

Andarko Petroleum Corporation In December 2011, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company signed a farm-out agreement with US-based Andarko Petroleum Corporation. Under the agreement, Andarko will acquire a share in WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company’s equity interest in Blocks 5, 6 and 7 offshore south-west South Africa. Andarko will operate these blocks with an 80% working interest and will acquire 2-D seismic visuals during the first exploration phase. 

Government of the Republic of South Africa WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company is a subsidiary of the Central Energy Fund (CEF), which is wholly owned by the state and reports to the Department of Energy (DoE). We maintain strong links with both partners.

Department of Energy The Department of Energy (DoE) is the South African government department with responsibility for the country’s energy policy. It was established in 2009 when the former Department of Minerals and Energy was divided into the Department of Energy and the Department of Mineral Resources. WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company is guided by the ministry’s energy plan for South Africa.​