Houston-based Lake Charles Methanol II plans a $3.24 billion plant at Louisiana's Port of Lake Charles. Natural and renewable gas would become hydrogen and then 3.6 million tons of methanol annually; a third party would store about one million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. The February 2024 announcement projected 123 direct jobs, averaging $135,955 annually, and more than 2,300 peak construction jobs. Engineering studies and permitting were underway, with an investment decision planned for mid-2024 and commercial operations for late 2027.
Earlier methanol proposal
On 21 December 2016, the Department of Energy offered Lake Charles Methanol a conditional commitment to guarantee loans of up to $2 billion. That proposal used petroleum coke, an oil-refining by-product, rather than the gas feedstocks described in 2024. Its proposed infrastructure investment was $3.8 billion. The department said further development and a final agreement were needed before closing the guarantee. The earlier process would produce methanol, hydrogen and other industrial chemicals, with captured carbon dioxide transported through commercial pipelines for enhanced oil recovery in Texas.
Carbon-capture project history
The department's November 2013 environmental-impact statement concerned financial assistance to Leucadia Energy for the Lake Charles Carbon Capture and Sequestration project. The proposed assistance was up to $261.4 million, approximately 60% of the project's estimated $435.6 million development and capital cost. This was a carbon-capture demonstration associated with an industrial facility: captured carbon dioxide would be supplied to an existing commercial enhanced-oil-recovery operation at the West Hastings field. The environmental review covered activities in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Brazoria County, Texas.
The 2014 funding decision
In its decision published on 10 January 2014, the department selected cost-shared funding for the Leucadia capture project. The connected gasification plant and capture facilities were planned on approximately seventy acres leased from the port. The West Hastings research programme would supplement commercial monitoring and regulatory requirements. Denbury Onshore and the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology would jointly undertake:
- Monitoring, verification and accounting for approximately one million tons of stored carbon dioxide.
- Research into the underground movement and confinement of injected carbon dioxide.
Company contacts
Lake Charles Methanol II
1980 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 200, Houston, TX 77056
Email: info@lakecharlesmethanol.com
Website: www.lakecharlesmethanol.com
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