Corrected: Methanex to focus on Chile natgas

09 September 2008 22:25  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined “Methanex to focus on Chile natgas, not Argentina” dated 9 September 2008, please read in the third paragraph … $150m (€107m) … instead of … $650m (€462m) …. A corrected story follows.  

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Methanex officials said on Tuesday that the company was writing off Argentina as a reliable supplier of natural gas and will ramp up investment for gas exploration in southern Chile.

“Our strategy is to source entirely from Chile,” the company's Latin American vice president Paul Schiodtz told an investor conference.

Methanex said that it will invest more than $150m (€107m) on gas exploration and development in southern Chile from 2008 through 2010 to step up production at its world-scale methanol plant near Punta Arenas.

The 3.82m tonne/year plant is currently running at only 30% capacity, according to the company.

Methanex has signed several agreements with outside companies for gas exploration, including Chilean state-owned gas company Empresa Nacional del Petroleo, GeoPark and Wintershall.

The latest gas exploration investment plan compares with the previous level of $100-150m that the firm had discussed in mid-July.

Production of methanol at the company’s plant in southern Chile has been severely hampered by a lack of gas supply from neighbouring Argentina.

($1 = €0.71)

For more on Methanex's Chile plant, visit ICIS plants and projects
For more on methanol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Steven McGinn
+1 713 525 2653

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