What it means: Lake Charles is an $11bn ethane cracker in the midst of shale gas territory, adding size and diversity to synfuels. Fischer-Tropsch is a process developed by two German scientists in the 1920s to turn coal or gas into synthetic fuel, which can be refined into transport fuel. Sasol was the first to build very large-scale coal-to-liquids plants, starting in 1955. In the 1970s, with high oil prices and sanctions, government funding facilitated further expansions. It’s all about the sizzle. At least that’s the view of a Sasol project manager overseeing the bustle of activity at the group’s immense Lake Charles chemicals project site in southern Louisiana, about a two-hour drive from Houston. Explicitly, he is referring to the feats of co-ordination to ensure that over a million line items are available at the exact time they are needed so no-one is kept waiting, and the project doesn’t slip further behind deadline. That’s become critical. Time is money, and analysts and s...
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