It is a colorless, odorless liquid, with the easy handling features of diesel fuel, and can be used as a stand-alone fuel, or blended with diesel. GTL fuel delivers a superior environmental performance with significantly lower local emissions than ultra-low sulfur (50ppm) diesel. It is also cost-effective, and can be used in existing infrastructures and vehicles without modification.

GTL technologies are well proven and have been in development for nearly a century. In 1922, developed by two German scientists who went on to win the Nobe Prize, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch, used in Germany the F-T process during the Second World War to produce approximately 600,000 bbl per year of liquid transportation fuels from coal. Carthage Hydrocol conducted further development in Brownsville, Texas, from 1948 to 1953 to convert natural gas rather than coal. The plant they constructed had a production of 365,000 bbl per year but was shut down and dismantled when there was a dramatic rise in natural gas prices. South Africa began using the F-T process in 1955 using coal as feedstock. In the 1980's, Shell used F-T to convert natural gas to fuels in a GTL plant in Bintulu, Malaysia. In 1986, Mobil built a GTL plant that processed natural gas from a giant gas field off New Zealand into methanol, then into gasoline. However, when oil prices collapsed the plant was no longer profitable and was sold to Fletcher Challenge Ltd. in 1993. Since then, there have been several new entrants into the market. The number of announced projects and demonstration projects has increased dramatically in the past five years.s