Syntroleum enters deal with ABB

TULSA -- Syntroleum, a small technology firm, is teaming up with engineering giant ABB Asea Brown Boveri to develop customized turbines for Syntroleum's process to convert natural gas into diesel fuel.

ABB also will market the Syntroleum technology as a way of producing electricity together with diesel and other fuels, according to the 10-year agreement.

The move fits with Tulsa-based Syntroleum's strategy of joining forces with industry giants such as Texaco and Atlantic Richfield to license and develop its process in a rapidly developing field. Competitors include Exxon and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. "We are very pleased to include ABB as one of our key development partners," said Mark Agee, Syntroleum president and chief operating officer, in a statement. ABB's turbine technology may be used in Syntroleum projects already moving forward, including a $75 million Texaco plant and a pilot plant at an Atlantic Richfield oil refinery in Ferndale, Wash., said John Ford, a Syntroleum spokesman. Shares of SLH Corp., a 31 percent owner of Syntroleum that is based in Shawnee Mission, Kan., fell 15/16 to 55 on Thursday. Zurich-based ABB, with $36 billion in annual revenue, sells equipment and engineering services to the power and transport industries. Syntroleum's agreement involves ABB Power Generation Ltd, Baden, Switzerland, and ABB Stal AB, Finspong, Sweden.

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