Senior Asia-Pacific vice-president Bruce Aitken today confirmed the ERN report and said the Motunui methanol dismantling was one of four or five options being considered by the Canadian-headquartered corporation as it reviewed its Asia-Pacific operations.
"I can confirm that we are looking at the feasibility of dismantling a methanol train at Motunui, but I think there is only a low probability of us actually shipping plant from Taranaki to Australia for reassembling," he told EnergyReview.Net from Auckland.
"We are also looking at different technologies and different scales for our Western Australian project and I think it is likely a smaller scale project, with perhaps similar technology, will be the preferred option.
"We should have a much clearer picture by the end of May."
Aitken denied recent Australian media reports that postponing the Burrup project could be Methanex pressuring the WA government for further financial assistance in addition to the $A85 million in federal funds already earmarked for the peninsula.
"Some government financial assistance is essential to overcome the difficulties of operating in such a remote location, but we are not asking for further help.
"However, it is true to say we have found the cost of doing business in Australia to be higher than we first thought."
Last Friday Methanex announced foreign exchange blowouts had caused the corporation to put a hold on the proposed $2 billion greenfields project at the Burrup. It said the capital cost of the proposed two-million tonne Burrup development had become disproportionately high.
The Canadian-headquartered corporation said northwest Australia remained an attractive location to build a methanol plant and that it was evaluating several alternatives "including installing capacity in smaller increments that would be more manageable from a cost perspective".
EnergyReview.Net then reported that Methanex would be considering progressively dismantling part of its two-train, 1.8 million-tonne capacity, Motunui complex for subsequent shipping to and reassembling in Western Australia once suitable long-term gas supply contracts had been concluded. Methanex decided as long ago as 1995 that the Motunui plants were relocatable.
Methanex has already started dismantling the gasoline part of the Motunui complex, which it has not been used for several years. The Motunui plant was originally built two decades ago by the Muldoon administration to manufacture up to 550,000 tonnes of synthetic petrol a year, thus providing some insulation against Opec oil shocks.
The Burrup blow comes soon after the devastating Netherland Sewell Associates International report on remaining Maui reserves, which concluded there were only 370 Petajoules of Maui gas remaining at the current contract price. The report said Methanex had used virtually all its entitlements to Maui gas, forcing it to close one of two trains at Motunui and the smaller Waitara Valley plant.
"Yes, Burrup and Netherland Sewell have been a bit of a double whammy, but we are putting a lot of effort into securing new gas supplies and ensuring we satisfy our customers in the Asia Pacific region."
Aitken said Methanex was considering restarting the expensive Medicine Hat plant in Alberta to help the global Methanex methanol supply. Some production from Chile was already being shipped to customers traditionally supplied by the New Zealand plants.
