LyondellBasell announced today it had restarted its methanol plant in Channelview, Texas. The company cited the availability of low-cost feedstocks from shale gas formations as the deciding factor in putting the plant back into service in the fourth quarter of 2013. It had been idle for nearly a decade — LyondellBasell shut down the plant in 2004 due to high natural gas prices at the time.
The restart in Channelview is the latest in a series of growth projects in Texas that includes ethylene capacity expansions in La Porte, Channelview and Corpus Christi and a polyethylene facility expansion in Matagorda County.
