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/

I'm confident for the future - by the summer we'll be back in profit. Also over 3 yrs etc we could be expecting divi's couldnt we?

Especially since Arden labelled GTL a 'Cash Cow' (you should all know your boston box!) when it was still using very conservative figures.

Whats holding this down is the uncertainty over the finance of the expansion once this becomes clear and we get some numbers on production we will see a steady rise in the sp.

Any idea on what the expansion will cost Driver?

just topped up, managed to buy at 1.40. hope your right about the rns tomorrow laurie!

Thanks Driver and all for your words of comfort.. I'll continue to hold... the only thing that bugs me is that every time someone says it's the bottom and it's a bargain and just wait for the future highs... it then goes down again ! how low will it go before the turn around ? (if there is one)

an RNS tomo ? oh no... not another drop coming !

potts
No but I'm sure we will find out soon.

it is not looking very good at the moment. lets hope there is good news tomorrow to help us back up again. We really do need it now. I am now a a share down. It is like I said before I think we need to tuck these ones away for a while. Hope you are not on any on the t10 t20 etc.

Hope you are not on any on the t10 t20 etc.
?

Here it is:

GTL Resources PLC
20 March 2007


For Immediate Release 20 March 2007

GTL Resources plc
('GTL' or the 'Company')

Pre Close Operations Update
and Proposed Expansion of Rochelle Plant


GTL Resources plc (AIM:GTL), the project development company focused on ethanol
production in the US, today provides an update on its existing operations and
further details of expansion plans.

Rochelle operations update

Construction of the first 50 million gallon plant at Rochelle was completed on
time and to budget in December 2006. Plant acceptance tests were passed in
January 2007 and the plant has been running ahead of planned rates during January
and February. Peak daily rates have exceeded 54 million gallons pa equivalent and
whilst it remains early days, such rates augur well for future production.


The Company has worked with its corn procurers Cargill Inc. to put in place
financial derivative transactions which limit the price which it pays for corn.
As previously announced, such transactions are in place for 95% of the plants
2007 nameplate corn demand. During the first two months of operations this has
resulted in the plant procuring corn at more than 60 cents per bushel below the
average Chicago Board of Trade front month corn futures price for that period
of $4.01.


The margin of ethanol revenue over corn costs achieved year to date is above
that targeted in the original project investment economics and has averaged 80
cents per gallon.

Both supply and marketing arrangements are operating smoothly with corn, Dried
Distillers Grains (DDG) and ethanol stocks being managed comfortably within
expected operating limits.

To date, the vast majority of the plant's ethanol output has been sold to the
local Chicago market and the Company has taken advantage of local container yards
to export DDG at attractive prices to the Far East.

Proposed expansion of operations at Rochelle

GTL is pleased to announce that the proposed expansion of its ethanol plant at
Rochelle, Illinois USA to 100 million gallons production per annum is expected
to begin in the third quarter 2007.

Discussions with banks are well underway on the debt funding for the project.
The Company believes that it will be able to raise the debt at an acceptable
debt/equity ratio, in particular given that the existing plant is performing
well.

The Company has agreed the terms of an engineering service agreement with its
constructor Fagen Inc and is close to finalising the terms of the design and
build contract. The application to the Environmental Protection Agency of Illinois
for a permit to enlarge the plant is in its final stages and is currently expected
to be approved in April 2007.

The expanded plant is expected to benefit from the same logistical advantages as
the existing plant and will continue to benefit from the strong business
relationships already established.

A lower per-unit capital cost is expected for phase 2, compared with certain
greenfield projects that the Company has evaluated, driven primarily by the fact
that the Company already owns the land, has constructed a rail spur and parts
of the existing plant were specified to serve a 100 million gallon capacity.

The Company will be reverting to shareholders in due course with progress on the
planned expansion and the proposed debt and equity arrangement for its financing.


Peter Middleton - Chairman, said, 'We are pleased to report good progress on
preparations for the second phase of the Rochelle plant. We look forward to
executing this project as efficiently as we have delivered the first phase and
we are encouraged by the operational performance of the existing plant achieved
to date.


'Separately, we have been invited to study a number of new ethanol projects in
recent months. However, the recent escalation of land prices and of labour and
building materials costs makes the economic returns of these new projects
unattractive currently. We believe that it is currently in the best interests of
our shareholders to take advantage of the available economies of scale in
expanding our existing, well-located plant which is already demonstrating its
operational advantages. We will continue to study the other opportunities
available, but will do nothing to undermine the strong foundation we have now
built for the company'.

sounds good to me, better than I expected. what do you think?

good positive noise, but will be interesting to see when the company will be deemed to be properly profitable etc etc ...... and by the way, what do you suppose corn future prices will be for 2008 relative to 2007 and how will that impact the cost and profitability of production and then will GTL (and others) actually be able to sell the stuff profitably?

still can't understand why the sp went down from 2.38p (my buy in price 4/5months ago) when there was all this to look forward to...sp should be 2.7 at least now.

News that we already knew but they had to say something to help put a stopper under the S.P.
54 million gallons pa - sounds good.

And if the share price starts to lag again then at least we can expect some news in april - 'stages and is currently expected to be approved in April 2007'. Should give the S.P. a boost when announced.

Thanks for the tip off Laurie.

13 % + This morning - well done GHJ. Would have done the same but am cash strapped and already heavily in GTL.

to be fair, i didnt top up by a great deal added another 250, but all helps to bring my average down (i know some don't agree with that way of thinking).

Good news, hopefully should stop the rot that was happening!!

Just starting to lower today but should hopefully inspire confidence in publications over the next few days.
Managed to buy some more this morning so fingers crossed to seeing a profit for us all.

For what it is worth Tom W of T1ps has re-iterated his Buy stance on GTL.

Yes good news the most important bit is there will be no cash call or rights issue for the expansion so no dilution of shares. There is nothing stopping the sp going all the way to 800p strong buy.