Rentech Inc. announced in June that it had entered into a nonexclusive cooperation agreement with GTL Resources PLC (GTLR) (London) and Worley Engineers Ltd. (Devon, England) to undertake a feasibility study for the deployment of Rentech’s Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process technology on a floating system designed to take advantage of low-cost off-shore stranded natural gas. The feasibility study will focus on potential 10,000-barrel per day opportunities located off the coast of West Africa and the Northwest Shelf of Australia.
Rentech, GTLR and Worley have agreed to cooperate in the completion of the conceptual design, capital costs, operating costs and economic feasibility studies, together with all front-end and intermediate processing equipment, product finishing facilities, and the supporting vessel.
Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will share responsibilities for any floating F-T plant that is developed by the three parties following the study phase. GTLR will be responsible for: project management including funding, engineering and development; securing the natural gas contracts and product off-take contracts; and providing for the operation of the floating F-T process plant. Worley will provide the engineering for the syngas production or "front-end" of the plant and for the vessel, and Rentech will provide the F-T process technology and catalyst.
The three companies maintain a high degree of confidence about the design of the offshore unit. GTLR and Worley have already completed a considerable amount of work for a floating methanol plant and see the application of Rentech’s F-T technology as a natural extension of that because 70 percent of the equipment to make methanol is the same as that necessary for an F-T plant.
"Forming this relationship with GTLR and Worley is the first step into what could be a substantial Gas-To-Liquids (GTL) development. Every year, around the world, billions of cubic feet of natural gas are being flared from offshore oil fields or are abandoned because there is no safe practical solution for converting the gas to a useable product. Providing a stable floating production platform, along with Rentech’s F-T process technology, could be the solution off-shore producers have been searching for to utilize these vast wasted offshore resources," says Rentech.
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