Verde Clean Fuels Inc., Houston, has suspended development of a natural gas-to-gasoline (GTG) project in the Permian basin. The company cited “changing market conditions driven by increasing demand for natural gas,” in the region.
In 2024, Verde Clean Fuels and Midland-based Diamondback Energy Inc. subsidiary Cottonmouth Ventures LLC agreed to a joint development of a GTG plant in Martin County, Tex., in the Permian's Midland basin.
The project was originally slated to combine Verde’s technology with a feedstock of stranded or otherside-flared associated natural from Diamondback’s Permian basin operations for commercial-scale production of almost 3,000 b/d of fully finished reformulated blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) gasoline.
A front-end engineering and design (FEED) study was completed in December 2025.
Verde’s chief executive officer, Ernest Miller, said knowledge collected from the work completed “will continue to be useful as we explore other opportunities to deploy our technology.”
He said the company will devote resources toward other opportunities “in regions where natural gas is stranded or flared without access to a higher value outlet to market.”
Overview of STG+ process, potential applications
In June 2024, Miller spoke with OGJ about the project and the demonstration plant proved Verde's process, enabling technical confirmation by independent parties of the technology’s commercial prospects.
Premium subscribers can read more about the original joint development agreement between Verde and Cottonmouth Ventures and an overview of Verde's proprietary synthesis gas (syngas)-to-gasoline plus (STG+) liquid fuels technology and its potential future applications in converting syngas derived from natural gas and biomass feedstock into reduced carbon-intensity fuel.
About the Author
Mikaila Adams
Managing Editor, Content Strategist
Mikaila Adams has 20 years of experience as an editor, most of which has been centered on the oil and gas industry. She enjoyed 12 years focused on the business/finance side of the industry as an editor for Oil & Gas Journal's sister publication, Oil & Gas Financial Journal (OGFJ). After OGFJ ceased publication in 2017, she joined Oil & Gas Journal and was later named Managing Editor - News. Her role has expanded into content strategy. She holds a degree from Texas Tech University.