Abstract: Natural gas having a high CO.sub.2 content and low heating value is converted to useful and valuable products by the extensive removal of CO.sub.2 followed by conversion of the residue to a liquid product useful as fuel (e.g. methanol) through a process combining steam reforming and conversion of the resultant reformer stream, which contains CO, CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 to liquid products. The CO.sub.2 removed from the natural gas feed is used, in a preferred embodiment, in tertiary methods of recovery of petroleum from natural reservoirs in which primary and secondary methods are no longer viable.