2116.     ---------------.  [LINZ, B. F.]  Synthetic Fuels Program.  Oil Gas Jour., vol. 46, No. 44, 1948, pp. 38-39.

        In a hearing before a House Armed Services Subcommittee, it was brought only by E. V. Murphree, Standard Oil Development Co., that the cost of producing 2,000,000 bbl. per day of synthetic fuel by Secretary Krug’s plan would be 17 billion dollars instead of 9 billion, and that it would be much cheaper either to allow the industry to develop synthetic fuels as rapidly as economic factors dictate or to stockpile petroleum oil at the rate of 500,000 bbl. per day over a period of 5 yrs.  Taking oil products at $4.20 per bbl. and tankage at $1.30, the cost of the 5-yr. program would be 5 billion dollars.  Discussing the question of costs, it requires for production, transportation, refining, and delivery of Gulf coast oil to New York, 5.7 ton of steel per bbl. of products per day for maximum distillate yield from crude oil and 7.8 tons for maximum gasoline yield.  Comparable figures for natural gas products delivered at New York are 7.1 and 7.9 tons respectively, for coal products consumed locally 4.6 and 5.2 tons respectively, and for oil shale products refined and consumed on the Pacific coast 5.7 and 7.4 tons respectively.  The capital investment for the above would be $4,300 and $6,500 for petroleum, $7,400 and $8,200 for natural gas, $7,600 and $8,500 for coal, and $6,100 and $8,400 for shale.  Allowing costs of $2.78 per bbl. for crude, $0.10 per 1,000 cu. ft. for natural gas, $3.20 per ton for coal, and $1.00 per ton for shale, 5% for amortization and 10% for return on the investment, gasoline from crude, allowing credit for byproducts, costs $0.141 per gal., as against $0.128 for gasoline from natural gas, $0.166 from coal, and $0.16 from shale.  The figures are based on a gasoline with an octane-no. level to satisfy a 10:1 compression ratio engine capable of giving about 30% more miles per gal. than present engines.