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/

Why are the Indian Goverment not criticising OPEC for not increasing production.... pure hypocracy.

driver the price had already gone up, and may again yet but is will never get to where it was pre dilution.

I think this bio fuel nonsense is that.

Nonsense.

Feed the hungry and the fat, lots of corn bread and yams.

My thoughts, you may have your own too.

And what about corn fed chickens, what will they eat?

What will become of Mazola, thats the burning question?

poo
Let them eat cake.

Not a GTL knocker just the whole concept of bio fuels versus food prices which i see as a big problem.

Here, have another one.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/25/biofuels.energy?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews

My chickens wont eat cake, they say it's not got enough vitamins and roughage in it for them

They all had constipation last time they had some.

Times Business -Skyrocketing corn prices hit ethanol profits

No cake, no point!

then make your own cake and put some vitamins in it. and some bran flakes to stop the constipation, that should do it. if the simptems dont go away. then rub some ky jell around the bums.

Not looking good here down another 12%

Well it was due for a bounce 22% up.

Forget these types of shares, their days are numbered.

GTL Resources swings to FY pretax profit but markets remain challenging
AFX


LONDON (Thomson Financial) - GTL Resources Plc. swung to full-year pretax profit in its first full year of production but said markets continue to be challenging.

The renewable fuels company reported a pretax profit of $8.4 million compared with a loss of $1.9 million while revenue rose to $135.2 million from $25.9 million year ago.

The group's ethanol plant in Rochelle, Illinois , exceeded expectations in terms of operating performance.

The company said crush margins have further worsened since the year end with corn prices at an all time high and that the current fiscal year may continue to experience higher corn prices.

However, GTL said it expects a higher market demand for ethanol as ethanol pricing will eventually follow corn futures pricing.

The company further said its project to expand the capacity of the IRE ethanol plant to 100 million gallons per annum (mgpa) from 50 mgpa of denatured ethanol remains on budget and ahead of scheduled April 2009 start-up.

TFN.newsdesk@thomson.com

rda/lam

The appetite for biofuel starves the poor - 10 July 2008

The evidence linking biofuel production to rising food prices can't be ignored. Between the start of 2002 and early 2008, basic global food commodity prices rose by 220 per cent. The global production of biofuels ethanol and biodiesel rose from less than 8m gallons in 2004 to an estimated 18m gallons in 2008.

The most rapid increase has been in the production of ethanol derived from corn in the US: rising from about 3.5m gallons in 2004 to an estimated 9m in 2008. This year ethanol production is forecast to consume 30 per cent or more of 2008's entire US corn crop.

Because of the surging price of agricultural commodities, Josette Sheeran, the executive director of the World Food Programme, has warned that a "tsunami of hunger" is sweeping through the poorer countries of the world. Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, has said that as many as 100 million people in the world have been forced into poverty and hunger because of the dramatic increase in food prices. These are people who live on the equivalent of less than $1 a day and whose households spend 70 per cent or more of their meagre budgets on basic food staples. A debate is raging over the role biofuels, especially corn-based ethanol, have played in increasing food prices, and hence in the rising number of people going hungry.

Ed Schafer, the US Secretary of Agriculture, has said that biofuels account for only a few per cent of the rise in the price of food, an estimate that would seem unbelievably low.

One of the most reliable independent estimates comes from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). IFPRI maintains the most sophisticated model of global agricultural commodity supply and utilisation, referred to by the acronym Impact. Based on that model, IFPRI estimates that 30 per cent of the increase in the prices of the major grains is due to biofuels. And now we learn that the World Bank's own unpublished forecasts suggest that biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75 per cent

Bouncing 23% up

driver, nice to see some upward movement after such a long time . I got burnt badley.

chesneywilliam Y
Yes nice to see this moving up for those still in I got out at 150p

driver, you lucky man, I never go anywhere now without a stop loss.

chesney
Not lucky I bought at 300p

US Republicans disagree with Bush on biofuels


ST. PAUL (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans called for an end to a controversial requirement that gasoline contain a set amount of ethanol, a policy backed by the Bush administration that critics say has helped drive up world food prices.

In their 2008 platform detailing policy positions, Republicans said markets -- not government -- should determine how much ethanol is blended into gasoline, and pushed for development of a cellulosic version, which could be made from grasses rather than corn.

'The U.S. government should end mandates for ethanol and let the free market work,' the platform said. It was unanimously passed at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The position marks a major change from the 2004 platform, which supported expanding the use of ethanol as a way to reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase revenues for farmers.

While farm income has risen, food companies have complained that ethanol demand diverts corn from the food supply, driving up commodity costs and hurting their business. Many have raised prices, hitting consumers with heftier grocery bills as the economy fades and unemployment rises.

An industry spokesman said ending the program would be a mistake.

'Ethanol is providing a desperately needed, stable supply of motor fuel as we see threats to oil availability continue, either because of geopolitical unrest evidenced by Russia's invasion of Georgia or by Mother Nature in the form of Hurricane Gustav,' said Matt Hartwig, spokesman for The Renewable Fuels Association.

'And, if it were not for ethanol, gasoline prices that have wreaked havoc on household budgets would be up to $0.50 higher per gallon,' he said.

President George W. Bush has been a strong backer of use of ethanol as fuel, and has touted it repeatedly in his annual State of the Union addresses. The current Renewable Fuel Standard requires 9 billion gallons of ethanol to be blended into the nation's gasoline supply this year.

A growing number of lawmakers from both political parties have voiced objections to that policy as inflation pressures build in the United States and abroad.



FOOD VERSUS FUEL

In August, U.S. regulators rejected a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry to halve the ethanol mandate, which he blamed for driving up the price of corn and making it more expensive for farmers to feed their livestock.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, economic adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said the campaign did not ask the platform committee to include that provision, but McCain had long supported eliminating the ethanol mandates.

'This is a great piece of support for his principles,' Holtz-Eakin told Reuters in a videotaped interview.

John Miranowski, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, said unless oil prices fall to $60 per barrel, ethanol will still be a cost-effective choice even without the government mandating its use.

Oil traded at $111 per barrel on Monday.

That makes this a politically smart time to push for eliminating the mandate because it would please the food industry without punishing farmers, an important voting bloc, as the November presidential election approaches.

'As long as the price of oil stays high, the ethanol plants can continue to pay a high price for corn,' he said 'There's very little (political) cost right now.'

Corn prices have retreated from a late-June peak of $7.79 per bushel, but are still up some 50 percent from a year ago.

High food prices have become a global problem, pushing some poor countries to the brink of starvation and creating headaches for policymakers in rich nations struggling to contain rising inflation.

The World Bank has warned that soaring food costs threaten to undermine years of poverty-reduction work. A top World Bank economist said in July that biofuels production in the United States and Europe was the main reason behind the steep rise in global food prices.

In the platform, Republicans said farmers needed technology to increase crop production and meet the growing global demand for food and called on the Agriculture Department to support agricultural research 'to ensure that America and the world will never have to choose between food and fuel.'

Kaaaaaa