Energy Firms Seek to Make Diesel From Other Fuels

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everal petroleum companies are exploring technology that would turn natural gas and coal into a liquid fuel that would have the efficiency of diesel fuel but would run cleaner, industry experts said.

“The fuel is very clean,” said Mark Koenig, director of investor relations for Rentech Inc — a company that specializes in gas-to-liquid fuel technology. “It contains no sulfur, and it has more power than normal diesel fuel.”

Gas-to-liquids, or GTL, would produce a fuel that could be used in any diesel vehicle, said Jim Tipka, interim vice president of engineering at American Trucking Associations.

Earlier this month, Shell an-nounced plans to spend up to $100 million over a 10-year period for its GTL activities in the Science and Technology Park in Qatar. In 2003, Shell said it committed $6 billion to build a GTL plant.

ExxonMobil has also been involved in GTL technology in Qatar, the company’s Web site said. In July, ExxonMobil announced a partnership with the government of Qatar to launch a $7 billion GTL project.

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