Gulf of Guinea Oil Exploration Limited (GGOEX) has announced plans to construct the largest West African methanol plant in Nigeria in 2015, for the price of 109 billion naira ($700 million).
The plant will have a production capacity of 850,000 metric tonnes of Methanol per year, with the cost of the project to be debt-equity financed by International Financial Corporation (IFC) and fund syndication from local banks.
According to BusinessDay, the project will be the debut commercial-scale employment of the Mitsubishi Methanol Process (MMP) process in Methanol production technologies in West Africa, and would be located at the Gas Industrial park in Delta State, an oil-rich region of the country.
The “Delta Methanol Plant” has a nameplate capacity of 2,500 metric tons of Federal Grade AA Methanol per day which is a primary chemical in the production of Acetic Acid (solvents), MTBE (octane enhancer), Formaldehyde (resins, adhesives) and others.
GGOEX is currently processing a Due Diligence Assessment with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) for an approval of the construction and environmental sustainability of the project.
Exporting Methanol
As the demand for new cleaner and alternative energy continues to grow, methanol is increasingly being employed around the globe in a number of innovative applications for energy and petrochemicals.
Emmanuel Ejemurua, co-coordinator for the methanol project, relayed that the global demand for methanol was growing at around 4 percent annually and that the GGOEX project is intended to manufacture and export methanol to meet this demand, thereby enhancing the monetization of Nigeria’s huge gas reserves.
The unhealthy dependence of Nigeria’s economy on crude exports which account for 90 percent of the nation’s earnings prompted the government to embark on economic diversification for the development and increased GDP contribution of other sectors of the economy.
The 2015 project is in tandem with the aspirations of Nigeria’s Gas revolution for the diversification of the country’s economy and development of midstream industries from Nigeria’s gas resources which is said to be the 7th largest in the world, given proven reserves of 184 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and Non Associated Gas (NAG) of 95TCF.
“The Delta Methanol Plant is ideally located to supply its major export markets in Europe and expectations are high that it will produce a competitive product, bring added value to society and further contribute to industrial growth in Nigeria,” Ejemurua said.
GGOEX is a Nigerian Integrated Energy Company incorporated in 2011, positioned to engage in the exploration, development and production of Oil & Gas reserves in established and emerging frontiers in the Gulf of Guinea.
