Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

Crude

To date, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company has produced more than 45 million barrels of crude oil from our Oribi and Oryx oilfields, located in Block 9 off South Africa’s southern coast. Given the depleting reserves in both fields, this notable achievement is another testament to the dedicated professionalism of our engineering and production teams. 

On average, Oribi and Oryx currently produce approximately 1,800 barrels of crude daily. Located around 120km south-west of Mossel Bay, Orca, our floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility, has been active in the Oribi field since 1996. The only breaks in its service came in 2007 and 2008, when it underwent recertification works in Cape Town. 

In the 2010/11 financial year, the revenue we earned from selling Oribi crude, primarily to international trading companies, accounted for 9% of WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company’s total sales. 

With a sulphur level of 0.1212 % m/m, Oribi crude is classified as a sweet crude. Among other advantages, this reduces sulphur dioxide emissions at the refinery. What’s more, the octane number of Oribi crude’s naphtha fraction is relatively high, which reduces the octane upgrading requirement. Its high diesel fraction improves the quality of its final diesel products. In addition, Oribi crude has low contaminant levels, making it easier to produce lighter, value-added products. 

Plans to further develop the Oribi field are in hand. Meanwhile, although we only import Condensate for our GTL refinery in Mossel Bay, WOZIL Refinery and Chemical Company remains involved in third-party crude trading as well as crude storage.