A company that has long planned a fuel production plant in West Texas – with plans that have shifted over the years – has canceled its most recent permits.

On Oct. 10, 2024, Houston-based Nacero canceled Clean Air Act permits authorizing construction of its proposed Penwell natural gas-to-liquids facility planned for a sparsely populated area in Ector County, southwest of Odessa, Texas.

Equipped with carbon capture technology, the Penwell facility would have converted natural gas to gasoline while emitting over 5.7 million tons of greenhouse gases and 3,000 tons of dangerous air pollutants every year.

Nacero originally planned for the facility to convert natural gas to methanol and then convert methanol into 115,000 barrels per day of refined gasoline products. In January 2023, the company announced that the facility would produce sustainable aviation fuel. It was also planned to use captured biogas as a feedstock and be powered solely by renewable power.

It is unclear when the company plans to reapply for new permits, but news reports suggest that the project has been delayed by at least six years.