Petrochemicals – Chile – Methanex considers plant relocation, coal-based production
Canadian methanol producer Methanex (Nasdaq: MEOH) is studying relocating one of the four plants at its Cabo Negro complex in Chile’s southern region XII to North America.
“Certainly with the shale gas discoveries in the US and Canada, North America is a lot more attractive today than it was a few years ago,” Methanex senior VP of global marketing and logistics, John Floren, said at RBC Capital Markets’ Global Mining and Materials Conference in Toronto.
“We’d be able to relocate in 2.5-3 years,” the executive added.
However, Floren said before the company would consider moving ahead with the initiative it would need a partner with an existing site and a gas contract of up to five to 10 years.
Methanex is currently operating one plant at 60% capacity at the Cabo Negro complex, primarily due to natural gas curtailments from Argentina since 2007.
“There is a risk during the upcoming winter that gas supply to our plant may fall below the level necessary to maintain the operation of one plant,” president and CEO Bruce Aitken said during the company’s Q1 results webcast.
The firm is pursuing exploration activities in the region with Chile’s state oil company Enap and a number of other companies; however, it is taking longer to be successful than the company first imagined, said Floren.
COAL
According to Floren, Methanex is also considering running one of its Chilean plants on coal.
“There is a very large coal deposit about 40km from our plant and the economics look quite attractive to have one of the plants run on coal,” Floren said.
The idea would be to run the plant on gas and coal combined.
“We’ll make a decision on both these initiatives by the end of the year,” he added.
Similar Posts:
- Petrochemicals – Chile – Methanex output hurt by gas shortfalls, outlook “challenging”
- Electric Power – Chile – Pacific Hydro calls for overhaul of renewables law
- Petrochemicals – Peru – Pipeline infra, North American gas prices raise uncertainty over CF Industries project
- Petrochemicals – Brazil, Regional – Lanxess’ 2010 capex guidance up, Brazil plays key role – CFO
- Mining – Regional – First private placement on MILA augers well for junior financing
Leave a Reply