Candida antarctica or Candida apicola synthesized surfactants (glycolipids) in the cultivation medium supplemented with oil refinery waste, either with soapstock (from 5.0% to 12.0% v/v) or post-refinery fatty acids (from 2.0% to 5.0% v/v). The efficiency of glycolipids synthesis was determined by the amount of waste supplemented to the medium and was from 7.3 to 13.4 g/l and from 6.6 to 10.5 g/l in the medium supplemented with soapstock and post-refinery fatty acids, respectively. The studied yeast also synthesized glycolipids in the non-supplemented medium however, by the enrichment of medium with the oil refinery waste, a 7.5-8.5-fold greater concentration of glycolipids was obtained in the post-culture liquid then in the medium without addition of oil refinery waste. The yeast synthesized from 6.6 to 10.3 g dry biomass/l and the intra-cellular fat content was from 16.8% to 30.2%. The efficiency of glycolipids synthesis was determined by yeast species, medium acidity and culture period. The surface tension of the post-culture liquid separated from yeast biomass was reduced to 35.6 mN/m, which corresponded to the surface tension obtained at the critical micelle concentration of glycolipids. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.