OCI Beaumont received permit for Nederland expansion
Orascom Construction Industries Beaumont LLC (OCI Beaumont) received the final green house gas Prevention of Significant Deterioration construction permit from the US environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the expansion of its methanol and ammonia plants located in Nederland, Texas, USA.
Formally known as Pandora Methanol LLC, OCI Beaumont took over the Nederland methanol and ammonia facilities in May 2011 from the Eastman Chemical Company after seven years idled.
Anticipating on the consequence of the emerging shale gas development at that time, OCI Beaumont started again the ammonia production in December 2011 and the methanol production in May 2012.
With Nederland Expansion project OCI Beaumont is planning to add 3,000 tonne per day (t/d) capacity of methanol.
The additional capacity of ammonia is still to be defined.
The OCI Beaumont Nederland project should include:
– New pre-reformer
– Pre-reformer heater
– Two modified reformers
– Saturator column
– Flare
It is also about the same period that OCI Beaumont decided to decided to invest $1.3 billion capital expenditure in Iowa Fertilizer project in the center of the US northeast shale gas basins.
As long as USA was importing gas, the local production of nitrogen-based fertilizer remained very challenging against importation as spot market prices.
Therefore until 2012, most of the ammonia and urea consumed in the USA was imported, mainly from Trinidad and Tobago Islands.
In the actual context of natural gas glut, the methanol and fertilizer production come on the top of the best opportunities to monetize this gas in serving the domestic demand at minimum expenses for transportation and distribution.
In that respect OCI Partners LP is already the first producer and trader of methanol in the USA, with this Nederland expansion it intends to consolidate its market leadership.
Natgasoline Beaumont methanol project in progress
Approximately ten miles away from Nederland, Texas, existing facility and planned expansion project, OCI Beaumont is working through its subsidiary Natgasoline LLC (Natgasoline) on a greenfield world-scale methanol plant at Beaumont, also in Texas.
This OCI Beaumont new facility should have a 5,000 t/d capacity of methanol.
In February 2013, Natgasoline submitted its application for the environmental approvals.
To build Beaumont Methanol greenfield facility, Natgasoline acquired 514 acres of land in Beaumont area.
Depending on the final design, the Natgasoline Beaumont Methanol project should require up to $1.6 billion capital expenditure.
For OCI Beaumont Nederland Expansion project as well as for Natgasoline Beaumont greenfield project, OCI Beaumont is targeting to begin construction by the end of 2014 in expecting the first commercial operations by 2017.
