how would you like to buy gasoline made from $30 domestic oil versus $70ism port oil? researchers say they've found a way. they tell jim douglas they're just weeks away from signing a contract for commercial production. >> reporter: people have been turning coal into oil for 100 years or more. but researchers at uta say they have invented a better way to do it. so much better, they expect to sign a deal with an energy company within wks. >> this is east texas. we ignite coal. we go from that to this really nice liquid. >> reporter: a light synthetic crude easily refined into gasoline. professor brian dennis and a team of scientists have been working on it about a year and a half. >> i had the idea for this when i was walking to my car. i ran right back to the lab and i started drawing it out in my notebook. >> reporter: this early model reactor might not look like much, butt it's the only one we can show you. the current reactor is secret, extremely efficient, and they say emits no pollution. >> today we're at a cost of 28.84 a barrel. >> reporter: that's $28 a barrel versus $75 we pay now for import crude. and texas lignite al is dirt cheap, less than $18 a ton. and a ton of coal will get you up to one and a half barrels of oil. turning coal into cheap oil and producing new jobs. it's still fossil fuel, but scientists skite bridge the gap until greener technologies catch up. in arlington, jim douglas.