Methanol

Lake Charles Methanol LLC, which is overseeing construction of a petroleum coke and carbon capture facility in Louisiana, is not related to a previous project, as reported in the story, “Lake Charles Methanol Secures DOE Backing for World’s First Carbon Capture, Petcoke Facility.” Leucadia Energy LLC in 2014 canceled a project that was to be in the same location, and all programs related to it were terminated at that time. NGI regrets the error.

A first-of-its-kind methanol production facility proposed for Lake Charles, LA, able to capture carbon that would be used to enhance oilfield production in Texas, has been conditionally guaranteed up to $2 billion in federal loans to advance the novel project, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

Multi-billion-dollar plans for three natural gas-consuming methanol plants in the Pacific Northwest were scaled back Tuesday to two plants as the largest proposed facility at Port of Tacoma, WA, was scrapped by the developer, a China-based consortium.

Multi-billion-dollar plans for three natural gas-consuming methanol plants in the Pacific Northwest were scaled back Tuesday to two plants as the largest proposed facility at Port of Tacoma, WA, was scrapped by the developer, a China-based consortium.

In the March 24 article “Primus Planning Small-Scale GTL Facility Using Marcellus Gas,” NGImisstated the standard methanol capacity of a Primus plant (see Shale Daily, March 24). While the plants can be built in various sizes, a standard model already developed uses 5 MMcf/d of gas feedstock to produce 160 MT/d of methanol. NGI regrets the error.

Valero Energy Corp.’s previously-announced $700 million methanol plant, planned at its existing St. Charles Parish, LA, facility, has been shelved indefinitely.

Multi-billion-dollar plans for a trio of methanol production plants in the Pacific Northwest have run into serious local opposition in Tacoma, WA, causing the China-based consortium proposing the network of export plants to suspend its efforts there.

Just beginning a 12- to 18-month permitting process for its first of three proposed natural gas-based methanol plants, Northwest Innovation Works (NWIW) said Wednesday it has started the scoping period in the state environmental policy act (SEPA) process, and has addressed public concerns about water use.

The University of North Dakota’s (UND) energy research unit said it has a small part of a larger, $3.5 million research project involving industry, university and federal government researchers who are seeking to develop a process for extracting more value out of gas streams, including natural gas.