19.     ALDEN, R. C., AND CLARK, A.  Appraisal of Gas-Synthesis Operations.  Petrol. Processing, vol. 3, 1948, pp. 425-430; Nat. Petrol. News, vol. 40, No. 14, 1948, p. 23.

                Paper presented before the Western Petroleum Refiners Association, 36^th annual meeting.  Synthesis of liquid fuels from natural gas will require investments ranging from $3,000.00 to $4,000.00 per bbl. per day and cost $0.0914 per gal. without credit for chemical products.  The steel requirement is about 6 tons per bbl. per day.  To make gasoline from coal would require approximately 2 times the investment and double the amount of steel, and it would cost $0.114-$0.164 per gal.  To produce 650,000 bbl. per day of synthetic oil would require 10,000 cu. ft. of natural gas or 1,360 lb. of coal per gal. of motor fuel produced.  Gas-synthesis plants would cost 2.6 billion dollars to build and require 3.96 million tons of steel.  Coal-synthesis plants would cost 5.2 billion dollars and use 5.65 to 7.8 millions tons of steel.  Natural-gas reserves required for 20 yr. operation are 47.5 trillion cu. ft. and coal reserves required are 2.92 billion tons.  Gas reserves are currently estimated at 165.9 trillion cu. ft. and reserves of total liquid hydrocarbons approximately 2.512 billion bbl.  Since 50% of the energy in natural gas would be absorbed in the synthesis, the fuel-oil equivalent of the gas used for synthesis is 13.8 billion bbl.  About 85% or 11.7 billion bbl. would be gasoline; and, at present, estimated demand, our gas reserves would last about 13 yr.  It is apparent that any significant long-range liquid-fuels program must be based on coal.  Gas synthesis will be limited to those regions where enough gas reserves are available, 0.5 trillion cu. ft. being necessary to run one 7,000-bbl.-per-day plant for 20 yr.  Future gas-synthesis, up to several hundred thousand bbl. per day, could be sustained by our natural-gas resources provided (a) the operation can compete economically with processing of crude oil and (b) can pay a high enough price for natural gas to stimulate new discoveries.  Much will depend on the engineering and economic outcome of the 2 plants being built and on interim research and development programs.  As things stand, with a marginal long-term profit prospect, a very large investment requirement, and most important, gas reserves committed otherwise, it is quite likely that new gas-synthesis operations will be undertaken slowly.