2346.     ---------------.  [MURPHREE, E. V.]  Synthetic Fuels Picture.  World Oil, vol. 128, February 1949, pp. 46-50.  Petrol. Refiner, vol. 28, No. 3, 1949, pp. 95-96

        Some brief statistics are presented on the deposits and reserves of raw fuels in the United States, and approximate estimates of the investments required per unit of capacity for producing gasoline from crude oil, natural gas, coal (based on Fischer-Tropsch process), and oil shale are made.  From a straight economic standpoint, it is believed that the production of liquid fuels from natural gas is competitive today with production of similar products from crude oil.  With further improvements in manufacturing technique and possibly in mining or with further increases in the cost of finding and producing crude oil, production of liquid fuels from coal and oil shale may well become quite attractive from a cost standpoint.  Substantial progress is bound to result from the large amount of research and development now being carried out.