Rentech begins study of gas-to-liquids project in Indonesia

Oct. 22, 2001
Rentech Inc., Denver, has begun full feasibility study work with Indonesia's Pertamina on a potential 15,000 b/d gas-to-liquids plant that nation.

HOUSTON, Oct. 22 -- Rentech Inc., Denver, said Monday it has begun full feasibility study work with Indonesia's Pertamina on a potential 15,000 b/d gas-to-liquids plant that nation.

The small-scale project would use Rentech's proprietary technology to convert Pertamina's stranded gas into sulfur- and aromatic-free fuels, naphtha, waxes, and other high value products.

Rentech said last December that it and Pertamina would study the project, but work was delayed because the government-owned oil company targeted a specific site that required further definition in the scope of work.

If the study, which will take 4-6 months, indicates the project is viable, the two companies will enter discussions for a licensing agreement to implement the Rentech technology.

Dennis L. Yakobson, Rentech president and CEO, said, "We believe that the study will show that applications of GTL on stranded-gas reserves of 1 to 2 tcf make economic sense and provide an answer to monetizing many of the world's approximately 1,300 natural gas fields of this size."

Rentech is the developer and licensor of a patented and proprietary Fischer-Tropsch, gas-to-liquids process, for conversion of synthesis gas into fuels, products, and chemicals.