Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/246518 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
OIES Paper: WPM No. 50
Publisher: 
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford
Abstract: 
A number of high-profile projects and a wave of recent investments have focused attention on the global gas-to-liquid (GTL) industry, suggesting a latent potential for gas-to-liquid fuels to usher in a new conceptualization of oil product markets. The clean-burning, high-quality characteristics of GTL diesel fuels lend support to this outlook, seemingly offering a viable substitute to oil-derived diesel in the global transport sector. However, doubts over the long-term viability of large-capacity GTL projects in the absence of heavily subsidized gas feedstock prices leads to an alternative narrative, suggesting that GTL products will have only a limited impact in the global transport sector by virtue of the industry’s unsustainable growth potential. Evidence of this is seen in Europe, where despite the favourable market conditions for diesel imports, GTL diesel remains a niche product with relatively narrow commercial applications. As such, the recent wave of GTL investments may not be totally justified by market context, and the potential for GTL fuels to impact oil product markets may be overstated.
Subjects: 
GTL
diesel
blend stock
transport fuel
natural gas substitution
downstream refining
Fischer-Tropsch
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-1-907555-74-9
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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