Qatar's Two Million Ton a Year Methanol Project Will Claim 'World's Largest' Over Trinidad and Oman by 2008

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). It seems that as soon as one methanol production plant is commissioned claiming to be 'the largest in the world' another two proposed projects are announced that will claim the title within in a few years.

Currently, the recently announced Qatar methanol project, with a production capacity of two million tons a year, will make its claim as the largest. This will surpass the Methanol Holdings plant in Trinidad that has an annual production capacity of 1.7 million tons. Taiwan's state-owned, Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) in cooperation with Qatar Fuel Additives Company (Qafac) will construct the plant. A German company has been awarded the engineering contracts for the project that should be completed by the end of 2007 or early 2008.

The Taiwanese company is one of the founding shareholders in Qafac. The company's vice-chairman Chu Chou Hua said that the methanol produced by the plant would be marketed mainly in China and the Far East.

CPC is said to be taking a 6% participation in the project cost. Sources said that 60% to 70% of the financing for the project is still to be organized.

Qatar, which has one of the largest gas reserves in the world has a current methanol production capacity of 830,000 tons a year and exports 600,000 tons.

This new project should not be confused with the 1.8 million tons a year methanol project at Sohar in Oman in which Methanol Holdings Trinidad (MHTL) has a 50% interest. Globally the company currently produces 2.2 million tons of methanol a year.

This project will see the construction of 2,500-3,000 tons per day Phase 1 (approximately 825,000 -990,000 tons per year) using ICI technology. This $400 million plant is expected to come onstream by the end of 2006, assuming that financial completion is achieved in the third quarter of 2004 plant.

The second stage of the project, to bring production up to 5,000 tpd is scheduled to be completed within two years of the financial close of the first stage.

The Joint Venture will include MHTL (50%), with MHTL shareholder Ferrostaal AG (20%) (FRANKFURT:MAN) (Essen, Germany), and a division of Oman Methanol Holdings, the Omzest Group, (30%). The plant will be managed an operated by Industrial Plant Services (IPSL), a Trinidadian company, which manages and operates MHTL’s methanol plants at Point Lisas, Trinidad. German bank Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) is the lender for the project.

The Sohar Methanol project could hold 'the world's largest' title for less than a year before the Qatar project comes onstream.

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