Lake Charles Methanol II Switches Proposed Methanol Plant to Blue NatGas Feedstock

Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In announcing new plans for its $3.24 billion Port of Lake Charles methanol plant last week, Lake Charles Methanol II, LLC (LCM) (Houston, Texas) revealed a switch in feedstocks, according to Industrial Info.

Having tracked the planned project since 2007, Industrial Info noted that the plant now will use natural gas as a feedstock instead of the originally-planned petcoke (coke made from bitumen found in oil sands).

LCM plans to use advanced auto thermal gas reforming and employ carbon capture and secure geologic storage, allowing the methanol to be classified as "blue." It will first reform the natural gas into hydrogen, from which it will produce methanol. The company will work with a third party to capture and store approximately 1 million metric tons of carbon each year. LCM said the plant will produce other chemicals as well.

Industrial Info noted that the company is still in the front-end engineering design (FEED)/Engineering Studies phase, hoping to receive authorization for expenditure (AFE) by summer 2024. Assuming regulatory approval, LCM expects the plant to be in operation in late 2027.

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