Overview South Africa is the leading economic power in Africa as well as a key player in the African oil industry.
Liquid fuels are an important component of the South African energy sector.
The history of South Africa's oil industry goes back to 1884 when the first oil company was established in Cape Town to import refined products. Since then the industry has grown and matured. Until the 1990s, the upstream oil industry did not exist. There are currently small producing oilfields off the South East coast of South Africa. A nearby gasfield provides the raw materials for a synfuels plant at Mossel Bay.