New York - Sasol, the world's biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, is considering investing in plants in Australia and Algeria, as it seeks to boost its production capacity.
Sasol uses technology invented by German scientists in 1923 that can convert coal or gas into fuels and chemicals such as diesel and naphtha.
The technology gained favour after crude oil prices rose to a record this month, boosting demand for alternatives.
"We are certainly looking at other parts of the world, including other parts of Africa and, certainly, west Africa is not ruled out, but we don't have any immediate plans there at the moment," chief executive Pat Davies said.
"We are looking at other places in the Middle East. Australia provides opportunities Algeria is another opportunity for us."
Sasol expects a plant it is building in Qatar to become operational next year, and is conducting feasibility studies into the viability of expanding it.
"We are looking to expand our initial 34 000 barrels a day facility to 100 000 barrels a day," Davies said. "Over and above that we are wanting to do an integrated project, an upstream and downstream project, of 130 000 barrels a day."
- Bloomberg