The global gas-to-liquid (GTL) market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.8 percent from 2013 through 2018, according to the latest report from Infiniti Research Ltd.

GTL is the refinery process by which long-chain hydrocarbon products such as GTL diesel and GTL gasoline are created from natural gas. As it stands, there are only five operational GTL plants on the globe: Shell runs two plants in Malaysia and one in Qatar, a joint venture between Sasol and Chevron operates another in Qatar, and Sasol runs the last in South Africa. Only one plant, located in Nigeria, is currently under construction. Capacities at the facilities range from 2,700 barrels per day to 140,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

According to the report, the high cost of capital related to the need for strong technical expertise and use of advanced technology is one of the largest barriers to new facilities. Th