Petrostar Petroleum and Maverick Synfuels have formed a joint venture to develop gas-to-liquids plants in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

The plants will use technology that converts a methane-rich feedstock into high-quality methanol.

Maverick Synfuels, formerly Maverick Biofuels, will commit exclusive licensing to Western Canada with Petrostar committing various petroleum and natural gas properties to the joint venture entity.

The ownership will be 60 percent Petrostar and 40 percent Maverick.

In March, Maverick and Plant Process Equipment formed a partnership to manufacture and sell small-scale GTL methanol plants. These skid-mounted modular plants can be deployed and are capable of producing between 3,000 and 10,000 gallons per day of ultra-clean synthetic fuels and chemicals from natural gas or methane-rich waste gas.