Sasol and Statoil to form alliance to exploit natural gas to synthetic fuels.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1997 -- Sasol (NASDAQ: SASOY), a world leader in the conversion of coal to fuels and petrochemical products, today announced that it is to form an alliance with Statoil of Norway for the conversion of natural gas to synthetic crude oil and liquid fuels by means of its Fischer- Tropsch technology. The rationale behind the alliance is the mutually complementary technology capabilities of the two companies: Sasol's technology for the conversion of gas to synthetic crude oil and liquid fuels, and Statoil's offshore and floating production technology for oil and gas. Statoil prefers to co-operate with Sasol rather than rely on the further development of its own Fischer-Tropsch technology.

Sasol and Statoil are already well advanced with the development of a concept for a floating Fischer-Tropsch conversion plant. These plants would be placed on ships (or offshore production systems) used for oil and gas production, and would convert the gas to synthetic crude oil (syncrude). Such facilities would allow the natural gas to be utilized at the point of production, rather than being piped ashore or re-injected into the reservoir. This can also eliminate the flaring of natural gas and its associated environmental disadvantages. The intention of Sasol and Statoil is to make these floating gas conversion facilities also available on a commercial basis to other oil and gas producers.

Sasol and Statoil will co-operate exclusively in developing the floating and offshore applications, and on a non-exclusive, case- by-case basis for other applications. It is the intention that both parties will be able to hold equity in facilities arising from the exploitation of opportunities to convert gas to oil and fuels. Of particular interest is the possible utilization of Statoil's large gas reserves in Northern Europe.

Background on Statoil:

Statoil is the leading explorer, producer and marketer of oil and gas in Northern Europe, and has gas reserves in excess of 50 tcf (trillion cubic feet). It is fully owned by the Norwegian government and is operated as a private company. Statoil is a leading developer and operator of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels. Statoil has an extensive and rapidly expanding international activity which leads to growing reserves of oil and gas world-wide. More information is available at http://www.statoil.com

Background on Sasol:

With a market capitalization of $6.4 billion and revenues of $3 billion, Sasol is active in coal mining, crude oil refining and fuel product marketing, synthetic fuel production, petrochemicals, and petroleum exploration. It is the third largest industrial company in South Africa.

Sasol ordinary shares, traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, may be accessed on the Reuter Equities 2000 service under SASO.J, and on SEAQ International under SASOq.L. Its ADRs, each equal to one ordinary share, trade on the NASDAQ and can be accessed on Quotron and on Bloomberg under SASOY. Additional information is available on Sasol's home page: http://www.sasol.com.

CONTACT: Sasol Ltd.

Mike Tisdall

011-27-11-441-3835

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Taylor Rafferty Associates

Brian J. Rafferty

212-889-4350