Brunei Methanol to come onstream end-March 2010

15 August 2008 03:52  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news) – Brunei Methanol Company (BMC) expects commercial production at its new 850,000 tonnes/year methanol plant in end-March 2010, a company source said on Friday.

 

“It will finish construction by the end of 2009. Commissioning and first commercial volumes are expected in March or April 2010,” the source added.

 

The plant is a joint venture of BMC,  Itochu Corp and Brunei National Petroleum Company (Petroleum Brunei).

 

It is constructed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on a full lump-sum turnkey basis.

 

BMC will secure feedstock natural gas from Brunei Shell Petroleum. The shareholding of BMC is respectively MGC (50%), Itochu (25%) and Brunei National Petroleum Company (25%). It is financed mainly by Japan Bank for International Co-operation and other private banks.

 

MGC, itself a methanol producer, will be the sole off-taker from this plant, which will be the first petrochemical facility in Brunei.

 

“Pre-marketing efforts have commenced since 2007, as we seek contractual agreements with customers to ensure a stable requirement,” a company source said.

 

The current global demand for methanol totals than more than 40m tonnes/year, and has been growing at a rate of 2-3% per annum.

 

Methanol demand is expected to grow especially in Asia due to the strong economic growth, new methanol uses in dimethyl ether and fuel blending, market players added. 

 

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By: Heng Hui
+65 6780 4359

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