Dutch fuels supplier OCI Global is doubling its production of green methanol in the US on the back of demand from industry and regulatory support.
The company said it was bumping up its production at its Beaumont facility in Texas from 200,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes.
It said the scale-up plans include entering into supply agreements for renewable natural gas (RNG) exceeding 15,000 Mmbtu per day and securing the waste and development rights from the City of Beaumont.
OCI said this is its first upstream RNG production facility and production is due to start in the first quarter of 2025.
The company, which also produces ammonia, is projecting an incremental demand growth in the green methanol market of more than 6 million tonnes by 2028, on its take-up as marine fuel. It said this is based on the 225 dual-fuelled methanol vessels now on order.
Today AP Moller-Maersk’s 2,100-teu newbuilding Laura Maersk is being named in Copenhagen by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The vessel has been supplied with OCI HyFuels green methanol on its maiden voyage from Korea to Copenhagen.
Bunker brokers have told TradeWinds that the OCI product is costing Maersk around $2,500 per tonne at very low sulphur fuel oil equivalent prices. The Dutch company also inked a green methanol supply agreement with Xpress Feeder Lines to supply their green methanol ships at the Port of Rotterdam from 2025.
OCI also supplies green methanol to the road fuels market where the product is used as a fuel blend and as a building block in a range of industrial applications.
Company chief executive Ahmed El-Hoshy said the production boost “represents another milestone in our decarbonisation journey as a business, and our commitment to driving the energy transition.
“It’s positive that we are starting to see industry make that commitment too. We are seeing encouraging signs with regulatory support for both ammonia and methanol in shipping, such as the EU’s FuelEU maritime regulation and the latest IMO strategy bolstering the value of low carbon and green methanol and ammonia relative to fossil fuels,” he said.
