Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Franks on October 31, 2015 at 19:06

Bump

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on November 1, 2015 at 3:53

If memory serves there were several GTL plants planned for the Gulf Coast which were placed on hold or out right cancelled due to low crude prices.  GTL fuels are expensive to produce and only render a reasonable profit margin when crude prices are high.  Those projects were announced when crude was $100+ a barrel.

There are a number of prior discussions on this subject in the GHS archive.  Here are a few.  Note the discussion dates.

http://www.gohaynesvilleshale.com/forum/topics/sasol-announces-gas-...

http://www.gohaynesvilleshale.com/forum/topics/methanex-plans-to-re...

http://www.gohaynesvilleshale.com/forum/topics/sasol-energy-project...

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Permalink Reply by Franks on November 1, 2015 at 10:37

Interesting reading, and thanks. Seems to confirm what I'd read earlier, that the technology is supposedly still unprofitable for gasoline.

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Permalink Reply by Franks on November 2, 2015 at 4:51

repost to fix the links:

Looks like Sasol. Siluria (Saudi Aramco). & Lotte-Axiall projects are moving forward.

Nov. 2015
Sasol is hiring Ethane Engineers in Lake Charles:
https://www.linkedin.com/job/sasol/engineering-jobs-lake-charles-la/

Oct, 2015
Sasol picks Emerson to automate new Louisiana petrochemicals project:
http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3497241/Sasol-picks-Em...

Oct 2015
Siluria developing methane-ethylene plant in Louisiana
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2015/10/21/9935197/siluria-devel...

Contract let for MEG plant at proposed Axiall-Lotte Louisiana ethylene project
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2015/10/contract-let-for-meg-plant-at-p...

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on November 2, 2015 at 5:01

Thanks for the repost.  GHS member Randy Peterson has an impressive multi-page list of industrial projects related to refining, chemical and LNG.  He breaks them down by area and provides projected investment amounts.  It's about 100 billion dollars in new construction and expansions/upgrades.  The other side of the low commodity price coin is a boom among industries that benefit from low raw material costs.  The economic impact will be substantial. 

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on November 2, 2015 at 2:44

RDS and others have not signaled whether they will change their cancelled plans to build GTL facilities.  It's a decision based on a view of long term commodity prices.  Shell appears to have a differing opinion of the subject than Sasol.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-12-05/shell-halts-20-bi...

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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on November 2, 2015 at 3:08

I had some difficulty opening the links in your previous reply.  The two that I could open are not about GTL plants, they are about ethane crackers.  There are a number of such plants planed or under construction in the Gulf Coast region but they are not GTL plants.

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on November 2, 2015 at 3:58

From what I have read Sasol put the GTL plant on hold because of low oil prices. The GTL plant was estimated to cost over 14 billion. I would think that Sasol's plan would be to send a lot of the cleaned up natural gas to South Africa for electric power generation.

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Permalink Reply by Franks on November 7, 2015 at 12:44

For ethane extracted from natural gas (GTL), no? 
Gut feeling ... will soon become necessity. 

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