Synthetic fuels made from gas could be made for about half the current price of a barrel of oil - but it's early days yet for the new technology in Australia.
Despite investment overseas in synthetic fuels by industry heavyweights such as Shell, high start-up costs for the new technologies and fluctuating oil prices are deterring investors locally, experts say.
Gas to liquid (GTL) conversion technology is the term for complex processes to change the composition of gas into a liquid to create synthetic fuels including petrol, diesel, liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and aviation fuel.
As Australia pushes to reduce its dependence on imported oil, MineLife senior resource analyst Gavin Wendt says the future of synthetic fuel technologies depends on the price of crude oil.
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