Feedstock
Hydrocarbons used as raw material in an industrial process, not as a fuel. The principal uses of natural gas as a feedstock are in the manufacture of ammonia and ammonia-based fertilisers and methanol. A potential major market is the use of gas to make synthetic oil products such as motor gasoline and middle distillates (see Gas to Liquid). May also be used to denote the feedstock used to produce electricity, but statistical summaries of gas consumption normally distinguish this use from chemical feedstock uses. See also Middle Distillate Synthesis.