{"id":664962,"date":"2026-05-12T01:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T01:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/664962\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T01:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T01:01:15","slug":"darwin-chemical-recycler-prepares-to-make-diesel-from-gas-condensate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/664962\/","title":{"rendered":"Darwin chemical recycler prepares to make diesel from gas condensate"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Darwin-based chemical recycling company is planning to make diesel from locally extracted gas condensate, in the hopes of establishing a domestic fuel supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Global Resource Recovery (GRR) currently uses a failed former biodiesel plant<\/a> to recycle waste oils, glycols, and other chemicals produced by Darwin’s LNG export industry.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Amid an ongoing global fuel shortage, GRR says it is now finalising agreements with two companies to purchase gas condensate extracted from gas wells in Central Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company’s chief executive, Mike Everton, says the production method could result in a cheaper and more reliable source of fuel for Top End motorists.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

NT Treasury data shows Darwin had the second-highest retail diesel price of all capital cities in April 2026. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)<\/p>\n

Gas condensate is considered a by-product of gas extraction, but tens of millions of barrels are produced in Australia every year with a total value in the billions.<\/p>\n

Geoscience Australia defines the product as a portion of natural gas, which becomes a liquid “at surface pressure and temperature conditions.”<\/p>\n

A fuel industry veteran, Mr Everton said GRR would initially refine the hydrocarbon product offshore under a “crack spread” agreement.<\/p>\n

“The product that goes out comes back still under our sovereign flag, as our product, and it saves us about 40 to 50 cents per litre into the marketplace,” he said.\"Mike<\/p>\n

Mike Everton says the production method could result in a cheaper and more reliable source of fuel. (Supplied: Mike Everton)<\/p>\n

According to GRR, the proposed operation would eventually meet half of Darwin’s total fuel demand.<\/p>\n

Once small-scale production is underway, it plans to spend $50 million building a “tank farm” at East Arm comprising 16 stainless steel storage vessels, to be built in stages.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Darwin Port chief executive Peter Dummett confirmed a possible site for the tank farm had been identified inside the port’s lease area at East Arm and was being considered in accordance with regulatory requirements.<\/p>\n

He said the port was working on “a number of projects” with Global Resource Recovery, “including the possibility of diesel production from NT-extracted condensate,”<\/p>\n

While Mr Dummet said he would work with GRR, he noted “projects of this nature are dependent upon supply chain capacity.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A potential site for 16 storage tanks has been identified at East Arm. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

Not the most efficient source<\/p>\n

Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Financial, was also uncertain about the long-term feasibility of the project.<\/p>\n

Mr Kavonic said if it were not for the current fuel crisis, GRR’s plan to refine gas condensate “would probably not be the most efficient way to go about bringing in diesel.”<\/p>\n

He said gas condensate was “not a particularly good oil to make diesel from” in comparison with crude oil and said refining it overseas meant it would still be a fuel supply exposed to maritime trade disruptions.<\/p>\n

\"Saul<\/p>\n

Saul Kavonic says the proposal does not make economic sense under normal circumstances. (ABC News: John Gunn)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

“Australia doesn’t produce a lot of crude oil, but we do produce quite a lot of condensate, including the Northern Territory, including as a by-product of a lot of LNG production”, he said.<\/p>\n

“With diesel prices skyrocketing much higher than other prices of gas and oil, something that perhaps didn’t make economic sense six months ago can make more economic sense now.”\"Evening<\/p>\n

Most of the condensate produced by Darwin’s LNG exporters is sent overseas. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)<\/p>\n

Possibility of Darwin fuel refinery<\/p>\n

But refining Northern Territory diesel offshore would only be an interim measure under GRR’s plan, according to its chief executive.<\/p>\n

Mr Everton believes its proximity to both the gas industry and potential sources of low-carbon biodiesel inputs means Darwin is “perfectly placed” to host a domestic refinery.<\/p>\n

He said GRR’s goal was to establish a “co-processing plant” capable of producing diesel from an adjustable blend of both gas condensate and biological inputs, like plant oils and animal fats.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The first 500-tonne shipment of gas condensate will leave Darwin in July. (Supplied: Global Resource Recovery NT)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mr Everton said the composition of the fuel refined in Darwin would begin as “a 30 per cent blend of vegetable or animal and 70 per cent hydrocarbons,” but would be altered over time according to the supply of inputs.<\/p>\n

“This is not something where you go straight 100 per cent biofuels \u2014 it would fail like everybody else,” Mr Everton said.<\/p>\n

Mr Everton said the first 500-tonne shipment of gas condensate would leave Darwin in July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Darwin-based chemical recycling company is planning to make diesel from locally extracted gas condensate, in the hopes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,85197,19229,99,32716,321178,5249,5517,321179,35431,98767,115395,321180],"class_list":["post-664962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-biodiesel","tag-biofuels","tag-business","tag-canola","tag-condensate","tag-darwin","tag-diesel","tag-east-arm","tag-fuel","tag-fuel-crisis","tag-refinery","tag-tallow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}