NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Amid falling oil prices, a South Africa-based energy company is delaying final plans for a major $14 billion gas-to-liquid plant in Louisiana.

Sasol made the announcement Wednesday in a news release about its plans to conserve cash in response to lower world oil prices.

The statement says construction on an ethane cracker at its complex near Lake Charles, in southwestern Louisiana, will continue. And the company made clear that plans for the gas-to-liquid plant are not being abandoned. Sasol said the company would evaluate the possibility of phasing in the project. The plant would convert natural gas into diesel and other liquid fuels.

Lake Charles is home to numerous petro-chemical plants and is about 30 minutes from the Texas state line.

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