Houston-based Syngas Energy plans to build a $350 million, 500,000-tons-per-year methanol facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Louisiana Economic Development on Thursday said Syngas would begin construction in the second quarter of 2016 pending permits and a final investment decision. The plant is expected to be complete in 2018.
Syngas will buy 130 acres from NuStar Energy, which operates an 11-million-barrel crude oil terminal on the Mississippi River that also has storage capacity for methanol. NuStar will provide rail and barge shipping services for the Syngas project.
Syngas’ investment is the latest in a string of methanol projects popping up in Louisiana. The North American subsidiary of China’s Shandong Yuhuang Chemical is building a $1.85 billion methanol complex in St. James Parish. Houston-based G2X Energy in July said it would move forward with a $1.3 billion methanol plant in Lake Charles.
The Syngas plant is expected to create 86 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $78,600 and 508 new indirect jobs. The project would generate more than 800 construction jobs during its peak.
MORE DOWNSTREAM EXPANSIONS: Celanese, Mitsui start up new methanol plant in Texas