2379.     ---------------.  [NATIONAL PETROLEUM NEWS.]  Synthetic-Gas-Plant Construction Loan Authorized.  Vol. 38, No. 19, 1946, p. 51.

        Reconstruction Finance Corporation has authorized a loan of $9,000,000 to Carthage Hydrocol, Inc., to complete a plant at Brownsville, Tex., for synthesizing gasoline from natural gas.  Total cost of the plant is about $20,000,000.  Construction of the plant will be directed by Hydrocarbon Research, Inc., which controls patents under the Hydrocol process.  The process is a modification of the Fischer-Tropsch process and has been improved through the development of low-cost O₂ to produce a low-cost, high-octane gasoline that will be competitive with that produced from petroleum.  Operating under royalty-free patents, it is estimated that a 70-80 octane gasoline will be produced at slightly more than $0.04 per gal.