CNOOC Begins Construction of 800,000-Ton Methanol Project in Hainan

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--After three years of planning and preparations, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (NYSE:CEO) (CNOOC) (Beijing) has begun construction of a $147 million, 800,000-ton-per-year methanol project in Dongfang Chemical City in Hainan province. The project is being funded by CNOOC's Chemical Company Limited.

The methanol plant will be the downstream auxiliary facility for the development of the Ledong gas field. The plant is expected to begin production in late October 2010. Because the natural gas from the Ledong field is characterized by its high nitrogen and carbon-dioxide content and low heat value, the plant will adopt advanced Davy Process methanol-production technology from the U.K. Features include energy efficiency, a short production cycle, minimal equipment and space utilization, and high added economic value.

The designed daily production capacity is estimated at 2,500 tons. It is expected that the energy consumed per ton to produce methanol at the new facility will be much lower compared with average medium-scale methanol facilities in China. The quality of methanol products from this unit will meet U.S. AA standards.

In addition to using energy-efficient equipment and new insulation materials, the Davy system employs hydrogen-recycling, pre-transformation, low-pressure methanol synthesis and exhaust pressure swing absorbing technologies to reduce energy consumption. All of these features will help to reduce the facility's energy consumption during production.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.