$700Mn methanol plant in Nigeria

Gulf of Guinea Oil Exploration Limited (GGOEX) is constructing a $700 million (N109.02 billion) methanol plant in Nigeria in 2015. With a capacity of 850,000 metric tonnes annually, the plant will be the largest in West Africa. The company said it has selected the Mitsubishi Methanol Process (MMP) as process technology for the establishment of the plant.

The “Delta Methanol Plant” has a nameplate capacity of 2,500 metric tonnes of Federal Grade AA methanol daily which is a key product for the chemical and petrochemical industry in the production of Acetic Acid (solvents), MTBE (octane enhancer), Formaldehyde (resins, adhesives) and others. The new plant is expected to come online in 2015. The project will be the first commercial-scale installation of the MMP process in methanol production technologies in West Africa and would be located at the Gas Industrial park in Delta State. The cost of the project will debt-equity financed by International Financial Corporation (IFC) and fund syndication from local banks. GGOEX is currently processing a Due Diligence Assessment with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) and discussions with the Federal Government of Nigeria are on-going.