The F-T process has been used by many large companies, however the process is unpopular for many reasons. F-T factory equipment is expensive, and has high operating and maintenance costs. Also, petroleum, which competes with F-T products, has very unpredictable prices. Usually, factories are only profitable when they have access to "stranded gas". "Stranded gas" is the name for sources of natural gas very far from major cities that are too expensive to pump to consumers. If the natural gas could be pumped to these cities and sold directly to consumers, it would be much more profitable. Therefore, several companies are developing processes to enable practical exploitation of so-called stranded gas reserves.