Patent ID: 8178587

Claim:
A method for recovering a natural gas contaminated with high levels of CO 2 and converting the natural gas into a liquid hydrocarbon containing one or more hydrocarbons or a liquid hydrocarbon oxygenate containing one or more liquid hydrocarbon oxygenates, comprising: a) extracting a gas comprising carbon dioxide and methane from a reservoir containing natural gas, where carbon dioxide comprises at least 50 vol. % of the extracted gas; and b) oxidizing the extracted gas with an oxygen containing gas in the presence of a partial oxidation catalyst at a temperature of less than 600° C. to produce an oxidation product gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, where the molar ratio of oxygen from the oxygen containing gas to carbon from the hydrocarbons of the extracted gas is less than one; c) utilizing the oxidation product gas to produce the liquid hydrocarbon containing one or more hydrocarbons or the liquid hydrocarbon oxygenate containing one or more hydrocarbon oxygenates.