20/09/2011
Methanex Keen on Restarting Second Motunui Train
Methanex NZ previously hinted it had been considering restarting the mothballed Motunui production train, commonly known as Meth One, so it could continue producing the petrochemical if the other train, known as Meth Two, was shut for major maintenance inspections.
Company spokesperson Zaneta Ewashko told EnergyNewsBulletin while Methanex NZ had yet to make a firm decision to restart Meth One, "we are being more assertive in work related to refurbishing Meth One to support any future decision to restart that plant”.
“Our goal is to add sufficient gas contracts by the fourth quarter of this year to support a restart of the Meth One plant by mid-2012,” she said.
“If all economic considerations are met, including gas requirements, we will be able to operate two plants concurrently.
“However, if we are unable to secure sufficient gas under the right terms, we may bring Meth One online as an alternative to operating Meth Two.”
Ewashko said this would provide Methanex with flexibility in production and protected a significant company asset that might be lost if left idle much longer.
“And if more gas becomes available to us in the future we will be able to respond quickly by increasing our production,” she said.
Confirmation of the likely restart of Meth One, which has been idle since 2004, is another sign of New Zealand’s improving gas supply scene, driven primarily by the recent onshore Taranaki Sidewinder oil and gas discovery by TAG Oil and the Copper Moki and Onaero gas finds by New Zealand Energy Corporation and Greymouth Petroleum respectively.
There is also the just confirmed program by Todd Energy of at least two more appraisal wells in the nearby Mangahewa field over the next year.
And it ends months of industry speculation that the world’s largest methanol trader can operate another 900,000 tonne per year train at Motunui for perhaps six years or longer.
Major maintenance turnarounds are required after a methanol train has been running for four to five years and Methanex restarted Meth Two in October 2008 after a $NZ70 million ($A56 million) refurbishment program, meaning Meth Two is scheduled for another major maintenance program before October 2013.
Methanex NZ manufacturing director Dennis Addison has said New Zealand is the “ideal location” for manufacturing methanol for the booming Asia Pacific region.
Story courtesy of Petroleum News.net