Converting natural gas to liquid fuels using Fischer-Tropsch conversion is not a new idea but it has always been a big one, meaning it has always required very large and expensive production facilities. Royal Dutch Shell and South Africa’s Sasol have been the industry leaders in Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) for decades but their existing GTL plants… Keep reading →
This article reevaluates Opec’s power to control the global oil market and focuses on a political scientist’s research that suggests the cartel’s strength has been overblown for years. “But a closer look at OPEC’s real influence over the oil market suggests that we’re making a huge mistake about its global power, says Brown University political… Keep reading →
Continental Resources, one of the largest Bakken Shale producers, announced some good and bad news to investors yesterday – a new oil discovery (good) but increased capital expenditure guidance (bad). The company announced a new oil discovery in the South-Central Oklahoma Oil Province (SCOOP) where it also said “net unrisked resource potential has increased to… Keep reading →
Gas-to-liquids plants that is. Facilities that convert natural gas into liquid transportation fuels like diesel and gasoline have become potentially attractive given current ample US natural gas supply and the fuel’s comparatively low price compared with other regional markets around the world. This attractively-priced feedstock has already spurred a spate of chemical plant expansions and… Keep reading →
Today’s quote is actually a reader comment made in response to a news tidbit we featured in a recent morning roundup about the US Navy turning seawater into fuel. We remarked the piece was a bit light on details, so one of our readers helped fill in the technical aspects that, as he puts it,… Keep reading →
This piece is short on details, but reports scientists have found a way to do gas-to-liquids on the high seas at a cost of around $3 to $6 per gallon. “For us in the military, in the Navy, we have some pretty unusual and different kinds of challenges,” said Cullom. “We don’t necessarily go to… Keep reading →
Shell made big news when it announced plans to construct an ethane cracker in 2011 and subsequently chose to site the plant in Pennsylvania. Recently-announced capital expenditure cutbacks could impact plans to move forward with the project, but nothing has been officially announced. With Marcellus shale gas production surging, the plant would crack ethane produced… Keep reading →
What can cost a billion dollars more each week before it even exists? At the end of September, the Louisiana governor’s office projected that a new gas to liquids project announced by Royal Dutch Shell would cost an estimated $12.5 billion. Less than a week into December, the multinational energy giant cancelled its plans amid… Keep reading →
Technology start-ups and Russian oil companies are partnering up to turn flared gas into an economic benefit through gas-to-liquid generation Satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows that Russia flared 35 billion cubic meters of gas in 2011 and is on par with the amount they’ve previously burned into the atmosphere.… Keep reading →
Shell has selected Louisiana’s Ascension Parish as the potential site for its Gulf Coast natural gas-to-liquids facility. On September 24, 2013, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Royal Dutch Shell announced selection of Louisiana’s Ascension Parish as the site for a proposed Gulf Coast natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant, a cost of least $12.5 billion. Shell will also fund… Keep reading →
