Trinidad and Tobago now home to world’s largest methanol plant

Trinidad and Tobago is now the home of the largest methanol plant in the world. Energy Minister Eric Williams formally commissioned the M5000 plant, the fourth owned by Methanol Holdings (Trinidad), at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
Director Joseph Cassidy, deputised for MHTL Chairman Lawrence Duprey, said in spite of the many challenges faced, the plant was delivered on time and within budget.

The M5000 plant is the largest methanol plant in the world with a rated production of 5,000 tons and the capacity to produce an additional 400 mm tpd by utilising the purge gases from MHTL’s existing methanol plants.
“The effective capacity is therefore 5,400 mm tpd,” Duprey said. The Chairman lauded the start up of the plant saying, “It is a major milestone in the history of MHTL as this single event now positions MHTL as the number one exporter of methanol to the US market and the number two methanol producer in the world.”

MHTL, whose largest shareholder is Ferrostaal, is now poised to become one of the largest and most diversified gas users in Trinidad and Tobago. MHTL’s Managing Director Rampersad Motilal said the could not have achieved these milestones without the pioneers of the industry like Professor Ken Julien who was present, Petrotrin’s Executive President Malcolm Jones, Bashrat Ali and Kerston Coombs.
Williams who also warmly greeted Julien, said MHTL should be justifiably proud of this mega methanol project.

The Minister commended MHTL for its enhanced local capability component.
“I understand that the M5000 project with an estimated annual gas consumption of 175 mm cfpd, has raised overall production to 4 mm tons of methanol per year, has generated an additional 100 permanent jobs and will support a further 200 employees for plant maintenance and overall programmes.”
The four MHTL plants have been producing and marketing approximately 2.2 mm tons of methanol per year. Duprey, through Cassidy, indicated his company’s intention to reinvest the majority of their earnings back into the country.