Siluria Technologies

Siluria Technologies, Inc. was a privately held research and technology company based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 2007, it pursued a chemical route for converting natural gas into higher-value hydrocarbons, with particular emphasis on producing ethylene as well as gasoline and diesel-range fuels. Its approach was intended to use catalysts to transform methane and other components of natural gas into products traditionally made from petroleum or from more conventional petrochemical feedstocks. The company operated in the field of catalytic chemistry, natural-gas conversion, and industrial process technology rather than as a conventional consumer-facing brand. Its commercial proposition was tied to the expanding availability of relatively inexpensive natural gas and the potential to manufacture important chemicals and fuels closer to gas-producing regions. Ethylene is a foundational petrochemical building block used in products such as polyethylene and other plastics, while gasoline and diesel are transportation fuels. A successful conversion technology could therefore have served both petrochemical and energy markets. Siluria raised more than $100 million through four rounds of startup financing. Its backers included venture capital firms and Saudi Aramco, reflecting interest in technologies that could create new value from natural-gas resources and diversify hydrocarbon-processing options. The company’s development program progressed from laboratory and pilot work toward demonstration-scale equipment. In August 2014, a test operation in Hayward, California, produced gasoline, an important public demonstration of its claimed gas-to-liquids capability. The company did not become a listed public corporation, and the available reference material does not establish a broadly commercialized product line or large-scale operating business under the Siluria name. In 2019, engineering and technology company McDermott purchased Siluria Technologies. Following McDermott’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2020, its Lummus division was spun off with Siluria’s intellectual property and a demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas. As a result, Siluria’s principal technological assets continued under successor ownership even though the standalone company ceased operating as an independent business. The brand is therefore best understood historically as an industrial research venture whose legacy resides in catalyst and gas-conversion intellectual property.

Siluria Technologies was established in 2007 in San Francisco as a research-oriented company pursuing catalytic methods for transforming natural gas into commercially valuable chemicals and fuels. Its work addressed a longstanding industrial challenge: natural gas is abundant in many regions, but its composition and geographic distribution can make transportation and processing less convenient than the use of liquid hydrocarbons or established petrochemical feedstocks. Siluria sought to address that challenge by developing chemical catalysts and process systems capable of converting gas into ethylene, gasoline, or diesel fuel. The company’s principal technology area was natural-gas conversion. Ethylene is one of the most important basic chemicals in the global petrochemical industry and is used to manufacture plastics and other downstream materials. Gasoline and diesel represent a separate application pathway in which methane-derived synthesis intermediates are converted into liquid transportation fuels. By pursuing both petrochemical and fuel outputs, Siluria’s research program covered multiple potential markets for gas-to-liquids and gas-to-chemicals technology. Siluria financed its development program through four rounds of startup investment totaling more than $100 million. The investor base included venture capital firms and Saudi Aramco. This financing supported the company’s effort to move beyond laboratory research toward pilot and demonstration-scale operations. The presence of a major oil and gas company among the backers underscored the strategic interest in technologies that could extend the range of products made from natural-gas resources. A notable development occurred in August 2014, when a test run at Hayward, California, produced gasoline. The event provided a physical demonstration of the company’s gas-to-liquids ambitions, although the available reference material does not establish that Siluria achieved broad commercial deployment or sustained large-scale production. Its business remained centered on technology development, process engineering, and intellectual property rather than on selling branded fuels or chemicals directly to consumers. In 2019, McDermott, an engineering company, purchased Siluria Technologies. The transaction ended Siluria’s period as an independent venture and transferred its technology into a larger industrial organization. McDermott subsequently went through bankruptcy proceedings and emerged in 2020. As part of the post-bankruptcy restructuring, the company spun off its Lummus division. The Lummus transaction included Siluria’s intellectual property and a demonstration plant located in La Porte, Texas. The ownership and asset transfers mean that Siluria’s later history is primarily an industrial-technology succession story. The standalone Siluria corporate brand no longer appears to represent an independently operating company, while its research assets and demonstration infrastructure continued through successor corporate arrangements. The available sources do not provide enough information to document named executives, detailed commercial contracts, customer installations, or the eventual technical and financial performance of the transferred assets.

• 2020

  Technology transferred with Lummus spinoff

  [1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  Following McDermott’s emergence from bankruptcy, Lummus was spun off with Siluria’s intellectual property and a demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas.

• 2019

  Acquisition by McDermott

  [1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  McDermott purchased Siluria Technologies and absorbed its technology into the engineering company’s portfolio.

• 2014

  Gasoline produced in Hayward test operation

  [1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  A test run in Hayward, California, produced gasoline from the company’s natural-gas conversion system.

• 2007

  Company founded

  [1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  Siluria Technologies was founded in San Francisco to develop catalytic processes for converting natural gas into ethylene and liquid fuels.

Siluria Technologies positioned itself as an industrial technology innovator focused on catalytic conversion of natural gas into petrochemical intermediates and transportation fuels. Its value proposition centered on creating higher-value products from natural gas through potentially scalable chemical processes.

• Petrochemical process technology

  Natural-gas-to-ethylene technology

  Siluria pursued catalytic methods for converting natural gas into ethylene, a core petrochemical building block used in plastics and other chemical products. The technology was intended to provide an alternative route to ethylene production by using natural gas as the starting resource rather than relying solely on conventional petroleum-derived or steam-cracking feedstocks. The available sources describe this as a development program and do not establish broad commercial deployment under the Siluria name.

• Gas-to-liquids process technology · 2014

  Natural-gas-to-liquid-fuels technology

  The company developed catalytic process concepts intended to convert natural gas into gasoline or diesel-range liquid fuels. A Hayward, California, test run produced gasoline in August 2014, providing a demonstration of the technology’s intended output. The reference material does not specify a commercial product brand, production capacity, or sustained market launch.

• Industrial demonstration facility

  Demonstration plant

  Siluria’s technology portfolio included a demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas. The facility represented the scale-up and testing infrastructure associated with the company’s natural-gas conversion work. The plant and related intellectual property were included in the Lummus division spinoff from McDermott in 2020.

• 2020

  Transfer of Siluria assets through Lummus spinoffM&A

  Background

  McDermott emerged from bankruptcy and reorganized its business, including the separation of its Lummus division.

  Action taken

  The Lummus division was spun off with Siluria’s intellectual property and a demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas.

  Aftermath

  Siluria’s principal identifiable technology assets continued under successor ownership rather than under the standalone Siluria corporate structure.

  Source

• 2019

  McDermott acquisitionM&A

  Background

  Siluria had developed natural-gas conversion technology and associated demonstration assets but remained a privately held research company rather than a widely commercialized public business.

  Action taken

  McDermott purchased Siluria Technologies and incorporated its technology into McDermott’s industrial portfolio.

  Aftermath

  Siluria ceased to operate as an independent company. Its intellectual property and demonstration assets later became associated with McDermott’s Lummus division.

  Source

• 2020

  Siluria intellectual property and demonstration plant move with Lummus spinoff[1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Bankruptcy

  After McDermott emerged from bankruptcy, its Lummus division was spun off with Siluria’s intellectual property and a demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas.

• 2019

  McDermott purchases Siluria Technologies[1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  McDermott acquired Siluria Technologies, bringing its gas-conversion technology into the engineering company’s portfolio.

• 2014

  Siluria test operation produces gasoline in Hayward[1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  A Siluria test run in Hayward, California, produced gasoline, demonstrating the company’s progress toward converting natural gas into liquid fuels.

• Siluria raises more than $100 million through four funding rounds[1]Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Siluria Technologies secured more than $100 million in startup financing from venture capital investors and Saudi Aramco to develop natural-gas conversion technologies.

1. 1Siluria Technologiesen.wikipedia.org