Arab News: Global interest in GTL expected to grow

Last week Doha hosted the first World Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) Congress. The event comes at a time of heightened interest in the industry, according to QNB Group. Recent landmark developments include the commissioning of the second train of Pearl GTL in Qatar, moves by Qatar Airways to utilize GTL as jet fuel and plans for new GTL plants in the US and elsewhere.

The GTL process converts natural gas into refined liquid fuels, such as kerosene and diesel. These can be more easily transported to relevant markets than gas, and have a higher sales value than raw gas. The GTL process is a chemical transformation, in contrast to purely physical methods of reducing the volume of gas for transportation by increasing pressure, producing compressed natural gas (CNG), or reducing temperature, producing liquefied natural gas (LNG). Unlike CNG and LNG methods, GTL products do not require any special equipment to transport or use, as they are similar to fuels derived from crude oil. Moreover, the purity and quality of the GTL-produced fuels also means that they are considered suitable for high-value applications, such as jet fuel. MORE