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/

And you think the likes of JP Morgan, Barclays and UBS will get on board soul??

ghjones2
Yes and old John colby and all.

Oil rises above $55 a barrel
MoneyAM
Oil prices rose above $55 a barrel Friday, buoyed by blustery weather in the northeastern U.S. and on expectations that OPEC will cut production as promised.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 81 cents to $55.04 a barrel in morning trading in New York. Brent crude rose 68 cents to $54.80 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

'The market is thinking that OPEC compliance will be better as we go forward,' said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. 'Oil is looking very strong.'

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it would begin cutting production by 1.2 million barrels a day in November, but some traders speculate members are not complying. The cartel said late last year it planned to cut production another 500,000 barrels a day starting Feb. 1.

Tanker tracker Oil Movements reported Thursday that it expects exports from OPEC to rise in mid-February. The news sent oil prices down to settle at $54.23 Thursday after rising as high as $55.90 during earlier trading.

The market has since shrugged off the report, Flynn said, and has refocused on comments earlier this week from ConocoPhillips that made traders believe OPEC is going through with its production cuts.

On Wednesday, ConocoPhillips' Chief Executive Jim Mulva said that the company was firmly instructed to curb output in its Libya and Venezuela operations.

Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, also pointed out that prices are being propped up by continued cold weather in the U.S. and the announcement Tuesday by the U.S. government to double the size of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

'If you look at trading this week, the market has found some support above the $50-a-barrel price mark. It appears to have found a floor due to a number of factors,' Shum said.

Earlier this month, crude fell to $50 a barrel, but it rose about 10 percent over the past week as cold weather gripped the northeastern United States, a major consumer of heating oil.

Also does anyone know the Broker that set "Strong Buy" on GTL this month?

was there one? ..... brave chap

GDP, The only thing I have seen is Hemscott having a strong buy.

I've seen it on Reuters and a few other sites - was just trying to found out who they were

Barclays is showing a Strong Buy 1 but not showing what Broker and to 31-Mar-08 +120% GRTH ESP

Hargreaves Lansdown have it as a strong buy.

so let's hope they have lots of large punters who pay attention then!

GHJones, re "And you think the likes of JP Morgan, Barclays and UBS will get on board soul?? "

Never say never - this co is definitely set to expand, assuming ethanol remains profitable. My argument is simply that as GTL comes to the attention of more institutional investors (i.e. as it continues to provide proof of profitabililty), so we shall see more of them get on board - it will be a very different ballgame when this is mkt capped in the hundreds of millions.

I assume GTL will have to fundraise to expand the plants capacity?
If so does anybody know how much?

And;
When does GTL decide on new Plant etc, will it be after the expansion has taken place or do they already have sites for new plants?

BBC Radio 4 - In Business with Peter Day - Thursday 1 Feb 07 - 8.30-9.00pm,
Sunday 9.30-10.00pm (rpt) 4 Feb 07. Understand programme this week will be discussing such issues as farm grown corn for Fuel (Ethanol etc).

Here some more background: In Business Radio 4 (see post 959)

1 February 2007
Peter Day meets the green entrepreneurs who are finding new ways to fuel the energy requirements of tomorrow. But is it right, in a hungry world, to grow crops to keep Western cars running?

Well they can either die of hunger or be destroyed by global warming.
And how much corn do they actually import for use from 3rd world countries anyway

don't confuse wheat with maize

Investor's Chroncle pitched in with an article similar to that which Shares ran last week - Overall Message was Steer clear of the sector.

It referenced GTL as moving up immediately after Bush's speech coupled with the commencement of its operations at Illinois. It also siad that Future Oil or something has cancelled plans to expand its capacity and subsequently upset the market, any chance this could happen with GTL?

P.S.Oil's going higher which is a good thing as OPEC production Cuts kick in this week

Soul, re "And you think the likes of JP Morgan, Barclays and UBS will get on board soul??".

I wasn't disagreeing with you, ideally i would love them get on board and make me some money. i was just questioning how realistic you think it is.

Jones, understood. I do think it's realistic, as in "on the cards".

Don't hold me to it, though - was just kind of thinking out loud.

FWIW I'm not sure there's a problem with growing food crops to fuel cars. Third World hunger isn't just about crop allocation; many of the governments in those countries are content to let their people starve while they trade international aid for arms.

And besides, have we in Europe not been paying our farmers to turn their fields into golf courses for decades now?

Don't forget that GTL sells its biproduct as animal feedstock. So 2 birds with one stone.