Sasol says its synthetic fuel approved for jet use

JOHANNESBURG, April 9 (Reuters) - South Africa's Sasol (SOLJ.J), the world's biggest maker of fuel from coal, said on Wednesday its synthetic jet fuel has been approved for use in commercial airliners.

"Sanctioned by global aviation fuel specification authorities Sasol CTL will be the first fully synthetic fuel to be approved for use in commercial airliners," Sasol said in a statement.

It said emissions from engines burning Sasol's jet fuel are lower than those from jet fuel produced from crude oil.

The approval covers jet fuel produced at Sasol's Synfuels facility at its plant in Secunda in South Africa.

The company said it would also submit jet fuel products produced at its Oryx plant in Qatar, a joint venture gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Nigeria and potential coal-to-liquids (CTL) ventures in the United States, China and India.

"Research is also underway to find an effective process to produce synthetic fuel from biomass to further improve environmental sustainability," Sasol said.

Shares in Sasol closed 0.6 percent lower at 409.25 rand on Wednesday. (Reporting by Marius Bosch)