Design Contract for Syntroleum’s Sweetwater Project 

Bateman Project Holdings Limited (BATEMAN) has been awarded a contract to provide basic engineering design work for the gas-to-liquids (GTL) section of Syntroleum’s US $600 million Sweetwater project planned for the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia.

BATEMAN commenced work in November 1999 as a subcontractor to TESSAG INA (formerly Klockner INA), Syntroleum’s nominated primary turnkey contractor for the project.

This follows several years of BATEMAN work in support of the development of Syntroleum’s technology, including the completion of several design studies. It is part of BATEMAN’s policy of developing niche technologies with the potential to provide the group with a competitive edge in acquiring future business.

The plant will use Syntroleum’s proprietary technology to convert natural gas into synthetic liquid hydrocarbons which will be refined into a range of speciality products such as synthetic lubricants, drilling fluids, normal paraffins and other high-value products. While the Sweetwater plant will have a design capacity of 10 000 barrels of chemicals per day, the process is also intended for application in plants ranging up to10 0000 barrels per day for the production of high quality low sulphur transportation fuels such as gasoline and diesel.

The Australian Government has acquired a preferred country licence agreement to Syntroleum’s GTL technology. This makes Australia the first nation to license the process and will provide it with a new option to develop its vast natural gas resources and bring synthetic fuels to the global market. In terms of the agreement a technology loan has also been granted to Syntroleum to support further development and commercialisation of the GTL technology in Australia.

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