We’re addicted to oil.

The world consumes about two barrels of oil for every new barrel it finds.

To think this can continue in perpetuity is delusional, a naiveté of convenience and nothing more. There is no amount of rationalization that can convince a sober mind that one plus one equals three.

No other commodity on Earth grips the scales of a country’s economic welfare like crude oil. In oil, countries find safety and certainty. It’s undeniably the main driver shaping policies today.

Make no mistake…the world is fighting for its limited supply. But to some degree, that must change.

And here’s the potential solution…

Light sweet crude isn’t the only commodity we can use to generate unleaded gasoline.

There’s another natural resource perfectly able to produce any of the following fuels: diesel, gasoline, heating fuel, plastics, fertilizer or pure hydrogen.

And the United States holds more than a quarter of the world’s supply.

We haven’t been utilizing this proven technology for one specific reason: Oil had been cheap! But as you know, that’s no longer the case.

As we all know, we’re in a new era where oil supplies are constantly challenged. Oil producing countries in the Middle East and Latin America are fully aware of this. OPEC ministers have been signaling support for a price floor around $60 a barrel.

They call the process CTL, or coal-to-liquid technology. It’s more commonly known as coal-to-oil technology. That’s right: Known as the Fischer-Tropsch process that Germany used during World War II to get oil from its massive coal reserves, CTL technology works by first converting coal to gas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen).

It’s then possible to convert those two gasses into diesel, gasoline, or any of the other products mentioned above.

Depending on who you ask, the break-even point with Fischer-Tropsch technology is somewhere between $30 and $40 a barrel. In China, it may be much lower! When the price of oil costs more than that figure, it’s cheaper to make these fuels (diesel, gasoline, heating fuel) from coal!

But the real argument is securing a stable supply. That’s why both the U.S. Air Force and the American commercial airline business have jumped on board.

According to our friends at TheStreet.com, the Air Force considers coal as the most viable source for alternative fuel.

In the words of William Anderson, USAF Assistant Secretary Installations, Environment & Logistics: “Our best alternative at this point is coal…or gas to liquids.”

The Air Force consumes 69 million barrels of oil a year. That means a $10 swing in the price of crude equates to a swing of $600 million dollars for the Air Force. Even for the Pentagon, that’s not exactly pocket change.

The U.S. Air Force has set a target to certify its entire fleet to be capable of burning synthetic fuels by 2010.

The Air Force represents 10% of the U.S. jet fuel consumption annually. Commercial airliners make up the other 90%. The Air Force is working with the commercial aviation industry and says that the synthetic fuel testing they’re currently doing will be made available to the commercial sector. According to Secretary Anderson, the commercial sector feels they can have their fleets certified for synthetic fuel consumption by 2009.

While the Air Force isn’t claiming that CTL offers the silver bullet, they are optimistic about the future of synthetic fuel.

So are we.

The Pentagon estimates the United States has 22 billion barrels of oil, but enough coal to produce 964 billion barrels. The Middle East has about 685 billion barrels of oil.

And if that weren’t enough, Washington seems to be jumping on the CTL bandwagon as well.

Representative Geoff Davis {R-KY} and House Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall {D-WV} introduced the Coal-to-Liquids Fuel Promotion Act of 2007. This act is the House version of a bill introduced in the Senate by Jim Bunning {R-KY} and presidential candidate Barack Obama {D-IL}.

The bill offers tax incentives for investment and production of CTL technology.

There’s not a coal producing state in the nation that wouldn’t embrace this idea…Democrat or Republican. And it just so happens that coal-producing states produce some pretty powerful names on Capitol Hill…names like Rockefeller, Specter, Byrd and Obama.

Speaking of Barack Obama, he fully supports the idea. In a recent speech he proclaimed:  “The people I meet in town hall meetings back home would rather fill their cars with fuel made from coal reserves in Southern Illinois than with fuel made from crude reserves in Saudi Arabia.”

The Senator continued: “We already have the technology to do this in a way that’s both clean and efficient. What we’ve been lacking is the political will. This is common sense. Bipartisan legislation will greatly increase investment in coal-to-liquid fuel technology, which will create jobs and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

Now what American politician in their right mind has the courage to stand up against a policy that promises to do that?

We at Free Market Investor have highlighted the company we believe holds the distinctive advantage in this field.

And rest assured… This company is not some VC-backed, cash-burning start-up whose stock price rests on the hopes and fears of some unproven technology.

In fact, it’s a company that has been successfully implementing this technology for more than fifty years!

We’re now poised for a moment of real change. Something’s got to give.

There’s not an oil consuming country in the world that wouldn’t like to reduce its dependence on energy from other nations. And now that hope has become more than just…well, hope.

Until Next Time,
Christopher Hancock
June 15, 2007

P.S.: There is another industry just as important as oil is to the future of the world. We found the company that is going to profit the most from this. Already, the world’s second-richest billionaire and, arguably, history’s savviest investor just bet $572 million on this one stock. It’s shot up to over $1.31 billion, as of this writing. And it looks like he’s hanging on for more.

Christopher Hancock

Christopher Hancock lives and breathes emerging markets. He travels extensively and utilizes his contacts across the globe to recommend the best international investments in the world. After working with Citigroup in Hong Kong on the challenges and opportunities associated with the forthcoming RBM flotation reform, Christopher left many of his friends behind and decided to return to the States to pursue a career in equity research. Special Report: Imagine Getting Rich as Ignored Stocks Soar- How you could turn $200 into $1.2 million!

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