CTL feasibility studies due by the end of 2009

Feasibility studies of two Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) projects in northwest China, jointly invested by Sasol and Shenhua, are going smoothly and are expected to be completed by the end of 2009, said Sasol’s Chief Executive Officer Pat Davies at a press conference in Beijing. Davies said he expected the long-term crude oil price to hover around US$80 per barrel, in which case it was economically competitive to liquefy coal to motor fuel. “We have been discussing the problem with the Chinese government and we expect a price more closely linked to the international market,” he said. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, issued a circular in 2006, urging for the “healthy development” of industries that turn coal into oil or oil substitutes such as methanol and alkenes. (June 14, 2008)