LyondellBasell announced that its methanol plant at Channelview, TX, USA, was placed into service in the fourth-quarter 2013. The unit had been out of service since 2004 due to the rising cost of natural gas, the key feedstock for methanol production. The company says that this methanol plant re-start is the first in a series of their U.S. Gulf Coast projects to take advantage of low-cost natural gas from shale formations.
Other LyondellBasell growth projects include expansions of ethylene capacity at La Porte, Channelview, and Corpus Christi, TX, that will add 1.8 billion pounds to the company’s annual capacity, and the expansion of a polyethylene facility in Matagorda County, TX.
Methanol is used in the production of chemicals such as acetic acid and formaldehyde, and in products including plastics, adhesives, foams, plywood, and paints. Methanol also is used in gasoline production through direct blending, as well as for the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
- LyondellBasell, Houston, TX, USA
