Gas to Liquid
Commencement of Operations Started 28/12/2006
The strategy of GTL Resources plc is to produce liquids such as methanol and ethanol from stranded gas, corn and other feedstocks with quality counterparties. GTL manages all aspects of a project: finance, feedstock supply, production and marketing.

In line with its strategy of seeking to develop and exploit markets for alternative fuels, GTL has, since the beginning of 2001, concentrated primarily upon developing methanol projects, principally in Australia, and, more recently, ethanol project work. The Board has recognised the strategic benefits of acquiring a cash generative asset on a shorter time scale than the typical methanol construction time of three years. In furtherance of this strategy, on 6 September 2005 GTL Resources acquired a controlling interest in Illinois River Energy (IRE) to build an ethanol plant at Rochelle, Illinois, through its wholly owned subsidiary, GTL USA, which has been established for the purpose of investing in ethanol projects in the USA. GTL USA has invested in IRE by way of a subscription for units of IRE pursuant to the Unit Purchase Agreement.

This project has the advantage that the Plant is expected to produce revenues on a shorter time scale and at a significantly lower capital cost than the methanol plant in Australia.

The Company intends to further expand within the ethanol industry in the United States or other suitable markets by selective acquisition of low cost production facilities. The Company sees itself as a potential consolidator of ethanol plants in a particularly fragmented market.

FT Tip
GTL Resources, an Aim-listed company. It raised money to build an ethanol plant in the US. Raw materials costs have risen but the price of ethanol has gone through the roof. The earnings potential should be spectacular.

New Plant

Construction started at Rochelle, Illinois site in September and production from the 50 million gallon per annum ethanol plant is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2006. Following unusually mild weather in Illinois the project has progressed well and is on schedule and on budget. Whilst the Companys main efforts centre on the successful delivery of the US ethanol project at Rochelle, the potential expansion of that site to 100 million gallons is being investigated. In addition and consistent
with GTLs stated strategy for the expansion of its interests in the ethanol industry, other ethanol opportunities have also been identified and will be analysed. Pictures Of The Site Under Construction March 27, 2006 http://www.illinoisriverenergy.com/html/construction.html


Arden
http://gtlresources.com/documents/ArdenAnalystResearchNote.pdf
http://www.gtlresources.com/documents/ArdenAnalystResearchNote.pdf
BBC News Item On Ethanol
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_4940000/newsid_4948400/bb_wm_4948456.stm

Ethanol Priceshttp://ethanolmarket.aghost.net/
Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel
http://energy.ca.gov/afvs/vehicle_fact_sheets/ethanol.html

Annual report for 2006
http://www.gtlresources.com/documents/GTLAnnualReport2006_001.pdf
Pics from Ethanol Producer Magazine of GTL's plant.
http://ethanolproducer.com/plant-images.jsp?plant_id=302&image_id=59
Commencement of Operations Started 28/12/2006
http://www.gtlresources.com/
Economics of Ethanol
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/ID/ID-339.pdf
2 July 2007 GTL Resources FY pretax loss narrows, plans 13 mln stg placing to fund expansion
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200707020705014067Z.html
GTL Web Site
http://www.gtlresources.com/

nor should you ..... all these alternative fuel companies will have a long gestation period before they truly become profitable ..... along the way, there will also be plenty of casualties, BFC looking like a prime candidate.

i already hold GTL, but am moderately tempted to get back into DOO whose process i think is far preferable, more sustainable and not subject to foodstock market forces

Interesting comment re Morgan Stanley as broker. If they recommend this then there are a lot of in-house portfolios that may well pick up on the stock.

It is galling to see this one sliding, but on a fundamental basis it looks ever more the bargain. Okay, you can't argue with the market, but if I was liquid and not overweight already I'd be looking for a suitable point at which to top up.

Keeping the faith . . .

Change of heart with DOO then cynic, so when the sp changes the graph changes, as does its signals, so you rate it as a buy again?! I told you a week ago but you have to wait for the graph to change?

tempted rather than complete change of heart ...... may miss the boat, but if FTSE takes a bit of a tumble, as is my guess, then DOO will follow suit

A lot of one upmanship going on here, as I have said before I have no worries with GTL although a bit disappointed with how low it has dropped, on the upside it does give some time to get more funds in place to average down. Thats the benefit of a varied portfolio some you win some you dont move your funds around then one-day bang retire.

good recovery in the end.

ghjones2
May be they noticed the ridiculous M/Cap of around 40m instead of the 150m it should be.

Compare RVA 1 February 2007 m/Cap 56m

62% increase in sales volumes to 7.0 MMgal (2005 - 4.3 MMgal);

More likely they raised the price to draw in a few punters to sell on the stock they took in ealier in the day. This could well drop again tomorrow.

driver ... a philosophical Q... if you bought enough to strat with, is it wise to buy more just because sp is lower?

cynic
Yes, I spend most of my time averaging down on most of my shares that go tits up hopefully when it hits the bottom and not on the way down.

gulp! ..... can't believe i am reading that ..... just because sp falls does not de facto make it a good buy .... there may be reasons to keep holding, but just to add to average down cannot have financial logic

just topped up this morning, only 250 worth mind, anyone dare to join me... lol

cynic
There you go cynic, ghjones2 following my strategy. Obviously I dont average down if the share is a lame duck those I sell but that is not the case with GTL or GOO and SER.

SER too small cap for me, so don't really follow it ..... not as much fun as SEO!!

Hey Cynic don't forget Driver is trying to average down from 3 on GTL.
I,ve got my average down to 2.15p now but bit top heavy whilst waiting with bitten fingers.

each to his own .... have foolishly allowed myself to do similar in the past, but have now (almost) cured myself of the habit ..... occasionally buy less than my norm on the basis that i may top up later, sometimes at a lower price, sometimes higher

Serious tree shake 7.5p drop in one go on only 8,000 sales?

sickening isn't it!.... well fed up with this one now...I bought in at 2.38p, taken in by all the "hype" we're being taken for ride here ! and being shafted at the same time !

Wait for figures guys, good things come to those that wait, i am fairly confident it will recover this afternoon.

Come to think of it, this downward spiral began when the consolidation took place, we were at 230 before, the day it went effective we had an instant drop to 210 then 200, then its slowly dropped ever since.

Personally i think this is partly due to the nominal value change. When it went to 1 shares i think there was anticipation that it would attract large investors and some big timers, currently over the course of a day you rarely see a trade over 5,000. Maybe the consolidation could be classed as a bit of an let-down???