Qatar on cutting edge of an alternative to oil

In this tiny emirate near the border with Iran, the world’s largest oil companies are betting billions of dollars on an obscure method for making diesel fuel that stems from South Africa’s aggressive efforts to wean its economy off imported oil during the apartheid era.

No one is angling for oil here. Instead, they are building a project to produce diesel from another of the earth’s more plentiful fossil fuels, natural gas.