BP Gives $20 Million to Caltech, UC Berkeley

BP, the London-based oil giant formerly known as British Petroleum, gave a 10-year, $20-million research grant to Caltech in Pasadena and UC Berkeley to study how to convert methane, the principal component of natural gas, into useful liquid fuels and chemicals. BP said it is establishing the research program because large reserves of natural gas have been discovered in remote areas, and if the methane could be catalytically converted to cleaner fuels and chemicals, it would be more economical to transport and market. BP sells gasoline under the Arco, Amoco and British Petroleum names in the United States.