Membership and Joining SAOGA

SAOGA is a member organisation and relies on its links with industry member companies to carry out its mission. Companies that want to work collaboratively with others to develop the South African upstream industry are invited to consider joining the alliance.

Benefits of Membership

SAOGA is the umbrella body for upstream suppliers in South Africa and as such we are a central point for connecting companies to each other and to opportunities. We are also a point of contact between the industry and government and in this capacity we steward and allocate a significant amount of public funds to developing the upstream sector. Member companies are the primary and preferential beneficiaries of all our activities and of the funds we disburse to industry in our various programmes. By joining SAOGA companies can also become part of a collective voice for the industry and so help us all in working with government and the private sector to improve the overall competiveness of our sector. Some of the specfic benefits to being a SAOGA member are:

• Preferential or exclusive access to industry networking events including breakfasts, company visits, briefings and industry forums.
• Subsidized access to SAOGA training programmes and courses.
• Free basic listing in the South African Oil & Gas Directory.
• Opportunities to work with SAOGA to initiate industry forums and initiatives.
• Opportunities to promote your company within the local industry through "featured company" events and exposure on our website.
• Access to our network of affiliated international organisations (currently in the UK and Norway with more to come)
• Preferential participation in SAOGA-organised trade missions and industry exhibitions and trade shows.
• Access to funding for trade missions and exhibitions.
• Access to SAOGA resources for assistance in accessing government and public funding.
• Access to information in a member only area of the SAOGA website.
• Involvement in defining industry priorities and accessing government supplier development.
• Participation in and assistance with supplier capability development e.g. ISO Certification.
• Opportunities to partner with SAOGA on company skills development initiatives.
• Access to the SAOGA skills database containing details of people trained in SAOGA programmes.

Membership Criteria and Types

Companies (in their various forms) and not individuals become members of SAOGA - company employees will receive the benefits of membership where these are relevant to individuals. SAOGA has historically had a two-tier membership structure with an associate membership level open to all interested companies and a full membership level open to a subset of "qualified" companies who meet defined quality/competence criteria. Going forward we will have two levels of membership: Regular Members and Governing Members. We are currently in the midst of reviewing a number of issues related to membership including the criteria for Governing Membership. We are also in the process of reviewing our company articles of association to ensure that SAOGA's member companies are the ultimate stakeholders in the SAOGA legal entity - this will ensure that member companies will have the power to appoint and remove directors, vote at the AGM etc. The intention behind Governing Membership is that a subset of member companies will become voting members of the SAOGA legal entity with all the powers that constitutionally entails. Governing Membership is likely to be defined on the basis of a minimum membership period and some criteria around the credibility of the company as a "globally-fit" upstream supplier. All members (Regular and Governing) will have access to all the benefits listed above and some provision may be made to ensure that Regular Members have a voice in appointing the SAOGA Board. At this stage, prior to the changes, all members are effectively Regular Members and new members will initially become Regular Members. There are 3 basic criteria for a company to attain Regular Membership:

• You derive all or part of your revenue from sales to the upstream oil and gas industry or you have a serious and credible intention of doing so.
• You have a physical presence in South Africa i.e. an office, employees or facility of some sort.
• You have paid the annual membership fee (based on the number of employees at the company).

How to Join

New Applicants

Joining SAOGA is a straightforward process:

• Contact info@offshoreafrica.co.za and give us your company name and contact details
• You will then receive a link to our website with an application form for your company
• Assuming the basic criteria for membership are met we will then issue you with an invoice for the appropriate annual membership fee.
• Pay the invoice.
• On receipt of payment we will notify you that your 12 month membership has commenced.

Renewal of Membership

Membership needs to be renewed annually on your membership anniversary (the date you joined). You should experiece the following process:

• Receive an email containing a renewal notice with an attached membership form/questionairre.
• Complete and return the membership form data (it should be populated with your data and only require updating).
• We will send you an invoice for the appropriate annual membership fee.
• Pay the invoice.
• On receipt of payment we will notify you that your membership has been renewed for a further 12 months.

Lapse of Membership

Your membership will be deemed to have lapsed if not renewed witinh 30 days of the membership anniversary date.

Cost of Membership

Membership contributions are an important part of the revenues used to fund SAOGA's work and fees are based on the number of company employees. For the purposes of calculating the fees (and the employees who will receive membership benefits) we generally consider only the entity that is applying for membership i.e. we do not consider the whole holding company or company subsidiaries.

New Membership Fees effective 1 May 2011

Annual Membership contributions per annum (Excl. VAT)

3-year Membership contributions(Excl.VAT)