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/

It's grim all round this morning ! Everything taking a battering.. I'm well down on lots of shares, including this bag of shite.!

expect to see a recovery later today and tomorrow though... lots of bargains about ! ('cept for GTL!)

Everythings RED!!
Am going to carry on topping up on GTL till the end. After reading Arden;s thoroughly conservative review of GTL (They were writing before plant was even near to completion) I have a much better understanding of the compay and really do think that GTL is worth at least 3 a share in the next couple of months alone.

GDP ..... do yourself a favour and sit on your hands ..... impossible to tell what direction the market will take for a few days yet

cynic, here here... I aint putting my money into anything until things settle down!!

here here again ! It'll be difficult to know when things have truely settled down..however, when they do I'll be topping up on the likes of ACC, MLR, MVW, SYG, IVE, TNG, PXC and...maybe GTL!

Hi y'all. No time to check figures, but the argument for this stock keeps getting better. Eth has jumped and corn has slumped!

Might pump some of my SOLA money into a top-up here, but will have to see what else I can be tempted to.


PS trading volume? gimme a break! 13,000 shares traded so far today!

I can see Iran doing something wild to make sentiment worse over the next few days.

Cynic thats probably good advice so i'll wait a few days before ploughing in - honestly cant believe these prices.

it's not so much iran doing anything stupid, it's the gung-ho israelis with the backing of usa ...... how much value one should attach to the public sabre rattling is another thing altogether.

looks like selling @ 180p last week was good move (at present) but do not have the balls to re-purchase... i'm with the Israeli theme...

More purchases than sells today for first time in ages, I will stick my neck out and say they have now reached low point. I Know it's a brave prediction in these markets, so hopefully won't have to eat my words.

The spread of GTL is 15p which makes it very unattractive.

I think so to Spitfire and am hoping to top up soon.
Hyleo I was quoted a spread similar to such a few days ago and managed to get a price below the current S.P.

Topping up seems a bad idea at the moment with all the alternative fuels. Look at Renova...dropping like a brick, DOO...starting to slip again and BFC...a no-hoper.

Anyone know of any UK listed companies involved in Cellulosic Ethanol research or production? Richard Branson thinks this is an area where he should be investing.

This just came out in the USA.....

Gov't plans $385M in ethanol grants
AFX


WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department on Wednesday said six companies could receive up to $385 million in government funding over four years to demonstrate the commercial viability of producing ethanol in untraditional ways.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who sought proposals a year ago for three 'biorefineries' that would receive $160 million from the government, said he decided to more than double the grant program as a way to reach President Bush's goal of using 35 billion gallons a year of ethanol and other alternative fuels by 2017 -- a fivefold increase over current requirements.

The U.S., which currently has 114 ethanol plans in operation, produced about 4.9 billion gallons of ethanol last year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, an industry trade group. By comparison, the country consumes roughly 140 billion gallons of gasoline per year.

Production of ethanol from corn alone is expected to reach no more than 12-15 billion gallons a year, Bodman said, because of the need to use corn to feed cows, chicken and other livestock. High demand for traditional corn-based ethanol has already driven up the cost of corn and livestock.

As a result, the government wants to accelerate research into the production of 'cellulosic' ethanol made from wood chips, switchgrass and other feedstocks. President Bush has toured research labs in Delaware and North Carolina to promote the use of these technologies as a way to reduce American dependence on foreign oil.

'While it requires a more complex refining process, cellulosic ethanol contains more net energy and results in lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional corn-based ethanol,' Bodman said. Since cellulosic ethanol can come from numerous feedstocks, Bodman said, it can be made 'in nearly every part of our country.'

With companies paying for at least 60 percent of the projects on their own, Bodman said, the announcement could spur a $1.2 billion investment in cellulosic ethanol. Congress has not yet approved Bodman's proposal to increase the ethanol grants, and the Energy Department has not finalized agreements with the companies.

Under the announcement made Wednesday:

-- Abengoa Bioenergy, a St. Louis-based division of Spain's Abengoa SA, would receive up to $76 million to help construct a 11.4 million gallons-per-year plant in Colwich, Kan., that would use corn stover, wheat straw and switchgrass.

-- Agribusiness company Alico Inc. of LaBelle, Fla. would get up to $33 million to help construct a plant in LaBelle, Fla., that would produce 13.9 million gallons of ethanol per year, plus electricity and hydrogen, from yard wastes, wood wastes and vegetation.

-- BlueFire Ethanol Inc. of Irvine, Calif., would receive up to $40 million to help construct a 19 million gallons-per-year plant in Corona, Calif., that would produce ethanol from landfill waste.

-- Broin Cos. of Sioux Falls, S.D., would get up to $80 million to help construct an 18 million gallons-per-year plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, that would make corn-based ethanol and cellulosic ethanol from corn fiber, cobs and stalks.

-- Canadian biotechnology firm Iogen Corp. would receive up to $80 million to build a plant in Shelley, Idaho that would produce 18 million gallons of ethanol per year from agricultural residues such as wheat and barley and rice straws.

-- Range Fuels Inc. of Broomfield, Colo., would get up to $76 million for a plant to be built near Soperton, Ga. that would use timber scraps to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol per year and 9 million gallons annually of methanol.

The companies selected plan to use a variety of technologies to produce ethanol. They have lined up major investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Waste Management Inc., DuPont Co. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and venture capital firm Khosla Ventures.

Several executives emphasized Wednesday that the technology is closer to maturity than many people realize.

'Cellulosic ethanol is not five or six years away,' said Alico's chief executive, John Alexander. 'It is almost today.'

Shares of Alico were up 6 cents to close at $47.56 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Shares of Abengoa shed $1.25 to close at $27.49 on the Madrid Stock Exchange.



Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Here is an interesting comment from the BBC web site today

"I bought petrol from the Tesco petrol station in Ponders end enfield, on wednesday 21st Feb. The car had been running fine and getting good petrol cunsumption which i now do not get. It was apparent there was something wrong almost immediately i left the forcourt as the car would be slow to pull away and stutter between 30 -40 which it didn't used to do before i filled up.

P.S. Tesco have openly said to the media that they sell a bio-ethanol mix of petrol. Could this be the reason."

possibly or at least that will be the public perception ....... however, both DOO and BFC make bio-diesel not petrol

Here is another one on the BBC site

"I've not yet experienced any problems with fuel from Tesco, but have been concerned to read several comments about percentages of bio-ethanol being added. Is this common practice? And what effect does this have on the engine and it's systems?"

Bio-ethanol stocks look being well out of favour now.

Quote another source then I will listen. The BBC should be shut down In my opinion.

Personally i doubt anyone in the US is going to read from the BBC or even hear about these incidents and as a result we shouldnt really give a shit becuase its the americans we're selling to not the brits!

GDP, that's not the point. If the fuel doesn't do cars any good then it won't do AMerican cars any good. however, I am sceptical that there is a problem, as naturally the fuel producers will have tested the stuff before putting it onto the market.

Are there any AA members or motoring magazine subscribers out there who might be able to get some expert opinion on this?

I would have thought that a 15% ethanol mix such as that being introduced in the USA shouldn't be a problem, but then again, I'm not an auto engineer. FWIW Brazil has been using gasohol, a petrol-alcohol blend made using distillates from cane sugar fermentation, for donkey's years, and I'm sure it doesn't constitute a danger to Brazilian cars.