BATON ROUGE, LA — Sasol Ltd.’s integrated gas-to-liquids and chemicals project in Louisiana earned the inaugural FDI Deal of the Year Award at the 2013 World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment in Shanghai, China. Site Selection magazine and the FDI Association presented the award to LED officials at the international forum.

Sasol is developing a $16-21 billion complex in Westlake, LA, that will create 1,253 new direct jobs and result in an estimated 5,886 new indirect jobs, along with an estimated 7,000 construction jobs.

The FDI Deal of the Year selection is based upon data collected by the Site Selection-affiliated Conway Data New Plant Report in conjunction with independent judging by a panel of FDI consultants and industry leaders from around the world. Earlier this year in February, Business Facilities selected the Sasol project for its Silver Award in the magazine’s 2012 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition. Also in February, the Sasol project earned the Best Refinery Project award presented by fDi magazine in its first Project of the Year awards focused on foreign direct investment. The FDI Deal of the Year Award presented by Site Selection and the FDI Association reviewed submissions from projects announced in 2012 and 2013.

In Louisiana, Sasol will build a 96,000-barrels-per-day facility converting natural gas to liquids, including cleaner-burning, high-performance diesel fuel. A companion ethane cracker will produce the chemical building block ethylene that is in high demand for many manufacturing applications, such as solvents, surfactants, polymers and other alcohol- and plastics-based products. An LSU Division of Economic Development study commissioned by LED estimates the Sasol project will generate a total economic impact of $46.2 billion over the next 20 years.