Economics of GTL Plants

Abstract

Summary A unique approach for assessing the economic viability of gas-to-liquid (GTL) plants is used. The capital expenditures (capex) are based on the production of 1 bbl of hydrocarbon liquid per day (BLPD), whereas the annual operating expenditures (opex) are expressed as percentages of capex. Both expenditures cover the range of costs envisioned by various vendors and investigators. It is assumed that the overall thermal efficiency of GTL plants is approximately 60% and that the plant operates 334 days per year. The capital expenditures used in this study are U.S. $20,000, $25,000, $30,000, $35,000, and $40,000 per BLPD. (Note: all expenditures in this paper are stated in U.S. dollars.) The annual operating expenditures used are 5, 6, and 7% of capex. Thus, the range of operating expenditures used is $3.03 to $8.48 per barrel of liquid hydrocarbon produced. Two measures of profitability are used in assessing the economic viability of GTL plants, namely rate of return (ROR) and undis-counted payout time (POT). Rates of return used in this study are 10, 15, and 20%, whereas the payout times used are 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 years. Construction periods of 3 and 4 years are considered in the analysis. A general survey of GTL processes is also included.