The World Petroleum Council (WPC) was founded in London in 1933. The South African National Committee (SANC) of the WPC was founded in 1999. The WPC provides a forum for discussing the issues facing the oil industry on a worldwide basis and is strictly non-political.

The WPC is dedicated to the application of scientific advances in the oil and gas industries to technology transfer and to the use of the world’s petroleum resources for the benefit of humankind. More recently topics have been expanded to include Petroleum Finance, Management, Environmental and Human Rights issues.

The SANC hosted the 18th WPC Congress in Johannesburg in September 2005 and it was the first time in the 72 year history of the WPC that the Congress was held in Africa. As a lasting legacy of this event the SANC Legacy Trust was established and awarded it’s first bursary in January 2010. The CEO of the Petroleum Agency SA currently serves as the Secretary of the SANC.