Smaller-scale GTL enters the mainstream

R. LIPSKI, Velocys, Houston, Texas With an estimated global resource base of over 800 trillion cubic meters (Tcm), natural gas is projected to play an increasingly important role in the global energy economy.1 However, with much of the resource in the form of unconventional gas—such as shale gas, tight gas, and coalbed methane—or comprising associated or stranded gas, the challenge is to find ways to take advantage of this potentially abundant energy resource economically and in an environmentally responsible way. Currently, much stranded gas (i.e., gas fields located far from existing infrastructure) is simply left in the ground, while associated gas (i.e., gas produced along with oil) is