The Canada-based Methanex Corporation says it will be indefinitely idling its Titan methanol plant in Pt Lisas, a major industrial centre along the west coast of Trinidad, giving as a reason the failure to reach a new natural gas contract.
‘Methanex Corporation announced today that it has been unable to agree to a new natural gas contract for its Titan methanol plant in Trinidad and Tobago (860,000 tonnes per year capacity) and, as a result, will begin the process of indefinitely idling the facility,’ the company said in a statement, adding that the existing natural gas contract expires in September. The company, which employs more than 100 people, said it ‘will undertake a preservation process at the Titan plant to provide optionality for a future restart should conditions materially improve’.
Energy and Energy Industries Minister, Dr Roodal Moonilal is quoted in the Trinidad Express newspaper on Wednesday as saying ‘I have noted their press release,’ when asked to comment on the decision of Methanex Corporation, with the paper noting ‘attempts to get further comments from him were futile’.
President and chief executive officer of Methanex Corporation, Rich Sumner said the company has had ‘a long history in Trinidad and Tobago with an outstanding organisation that has played an important role in our company’s history.
‘This difficult decision reflects our focus on preserving long-term shareholder value in a challenging environment where the structurally tight gas supply and demand balances in Trinidad and Tobago are making operations commercially unviable.’
‘Ahead of this decision, we engaged extensively with the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), and we recognise and appreciate their ongoing efforts to address the country’s gas supply challenges.
‘We will monitor future developments closely, with a view to reassessing conditions and our position over the coming years. We are now focused on supporting our team members during this challenging period and safely idling and preserving the facility.’
In its statement, Methanex said it ‘does not expect to incur material cash costs as a result of this decision and any updates to production or financial guidance will be released with Methanex’s regular second quarter financial communications scheduled for July 28, 2026’.
Methanex is the world’s largest supplier of methanol globally. It had idled its Atlas methanol plant in September 2024 and restarted operations at its smaller Titan methanol plant due to a lack of gas.
On March 16, 2020 Methanex idled the Titan plant ‘in response to the reduction in global manufacturing activity and methanol demand resulting from the global pandemic’.
This is the second international energy company to leave Trinidad and Tobago in recent months. On October 23 last year, Nutrien commenced a controlled shutdown of its Trinidad Nitrogen operations at the Point Lisas facility.