What Is Gas-to-Liquids?
Gas-to-liquids, also known as GTL, is a technology that enables the production of clean-burning diesel fuel, liquid petroleum gas and naphtha from natural gas.
What Are the Benefits?
Natural gas is one of the earth's cleanest, most abundant natural resources. When converted to synthetic gas, products like super-clean diesel fuel and naphtha are produced. These meet the most stringent environmental requirements. Natural gas has a far wider market in liquid form because it is easier to transport. With the expected rise in demand for diesel fuel, GTL provides an option with qualities that can enable significant reductions in emissions.
What Chevron Is Doing
Chevron operates in some of the world’s leading natural gas basins and is using an array of technologies to develop the full spectrum of natural gas, including GTL.
We are partnering with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to build a GTL plant that is expected to use this technology to turn 320 million cubic feet of natural gas a day into 34,000 barrels of liquids — principally synthetic diesel. When completed, the plant is expected to supply diesel fuel for cars and trucks in Europe and elsewhere.
Chevron also has been investing in research and development of technologies that could streamline the gas-to-liquids process, reducing front-end costs and making the fuel more economical.
Other uses for the GTL technology await the development of a new generation of compression ignition engines. And GTL is well adapted for use as a liquid hydrocarbon fuel for fuel cells, making its future even brighter in this area.
Updated: March 2008