M4 and M5 methanol plants restarted at Pt Lisas

File photo: A view of the Point Lisas Industrial Estate from San Fernando Hil.
File photo: A view of the Point Lisas Industrial Estate from San Fernando Hil.

The Ministry of Energy has announced that the M4 and M5000 methanol plants at Point Lisas have restarted after being idled at the beginning of April.

Energy Minister Stuart Young said in a release he was pleased at their reopening.

The release said he had been "communicating with both the National Gas Company TT (NGC) and Proman throughout the recent weeks and welcomes the fact that both parties have come to an agreement that led to the restart of the M4 and M5."

It added, “The parties will continue to negotiate for a long-term gas supply agreement and the MEEI will continue to monitor this and communicate with the parties.”

At the beginning of April, the M4 and M5000 methanol plants – TT’s largest producers of methanol – were idled as a result of an inability to secure an economically viable short-term gas supply contract for the month.

Proman’s local CEO Claus Cronberger said the significant increase in gas pricing made it unsustainable for the plants to operate.

Proman’s other plants, the M2 and M3, continued operating, using gas supplied by the DeNovo gas producer, a Proman owned producer from the Iguana field in the Gulf of Paria.

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