GTL is a generic term for a process that converts hydrocarbon gasses into liquid synthetic fuels that can then be processed into fuels or other types of hydrocarbon products such as gasoil, benzene, naphtha, kerosene (from which one can produce jet fuel), wax and other liquid fuel products.

The products obtained in the process depend on the technology used, with each technology enabling to produce a certain range of products. The decision on which technology to use is vital as this is what determines the range from which one can choose the exact basket of products at any time

The conversion of natural gas to a liquid form so that it can be transported easily. Typically, the liquid is converted back to natural gas prior to consumption. The conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels is an attractive option to commercialize abundant gas reserves. GTL technology is capable of converting natural gas into clean liquid products. Gas can also be converted into clean burning synthetic diesel fuel as an alternative to and to compete with gasoline. The IEA says that the cost per barrel of producing GTL is in the range of $40 – $90. GTL thus looked economic when crude traded at a record high of around $150 a barrel in July 2008, but when the price of crude is down to around $40, GTL is no longer so economic. In addition, while GTL fuel burns cleaner than gasoline, the production process emits so much carbon dioxide that costs could increase significantly if government s impose carbon taxes to help fight global warming. The agency calls GTL’s long term future uncertain and says it expects the production of GTL to total 650,000 barrels per day by 2030 – just 0.6% of the projected global oil output for that year. > >

Article from WGI (Dec 2017) –

World Gas Intelligence – LNG Usurps GTL as Answer for Stranded Gas

Is the death knell tolling for natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology, once touted as the answer to monetizing the world’s stranded gas reserves? Last week’s decision by South Africa’s Sasol to scrap plans for a 96,000 barrel per day GTL plant in the US suggests it is. The move came as little surprise. A construction industry source said the project’s demise had been expected for at least three years because of the better economics of US LNG.

Developers of proposed “second-wave” LNG projects are doing everything they can to drive down costs. By contrast, GTL costs haven’t come down.

The South African energy giant and synthetic fuels producer would have built the GTL plant next to its existing chemical complex near Lake Charles, Louisiana, producing synthetic diesel, jet fuel, and specialty products and chemicals. Sasol has said in early 2015 it was pushing back a final investment decision on the project, blaming the delay on low oil prices and the poor long-term ratio expected between oil and North American natural gas prices. GTL needs a ratio of 20:1 for 20 years or longer to be profitable, even though the process generates premium products such as gas oil, diesel and jet fuel. The current ratio is more than 57:3 — near the right level, but outweighed by rising costs and market instability. Sasol put project costs at $14 billion in 2015, but inflation in the construction industry and weather-related delays due to hurricanes and other storms have likely pushed them up by $1 billion, at least.

Sasol has now killed the last major prospective GTL project in the world. Royal Dutch Shell scrapped plans for a 140,000 b/d facility in central Louisiana in late 2013, only months after it was sanctioned. This apparent end of GTL megaprojects reverses the outlook at the turn of the century, when oil companies around the world were looking at the Fischer-Tropsch-based GTL process as a viable alternative to LNG for the exploitation of stranded natural gas. A dozen or more projects were put forward in Qatar, Nigeria, the US, Canada, Asia and even in the North Sea. Shell planned as many as four. In the end, only three commercial-scale GTL projects were built: Shell’s mammoth 140,000 b/d Pearl complex in Qatar, a 34,000 b/d Sasol plant in Qatar — in both of which Qatar Petroleum is a partner — and the 33,000 b/d Escravos facility in Nigeria. Shell also operates a 15,000 b/d commercial-grade pilot plant at Bintulu, Malaysia. The Pearl project in Qatar suffered huge cost overruns: Shell says it cost $19 billion, up from an original $5 billion budget, while other sources put the real figure nearer $23 billion.

Sasol executives have made it clear the company will no longer pursue GTL projects, although it will continue to license its Fischer-Tropsch technology. Industry analysts say the best hope for the technology to become commercial in the US or Asia is through so-called microplants that process small volumes of gas now being flared.