Natgasoline LLC (Beaumont methanol plant)
Large load · 2366 SULPHUR PLANT ROAD, Beaumont, TX
Natgasoline is the methanol plant at 2366 Sulphur Plant Road in Beaumont, Texas, held through Firewater LLC. Proman describes it as the largest methanol production facility in the United States, with production beginning in June 2018 and a stated capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year. The plant was first proposed by OCI in 2013 and financed in 2016 through a deal with G2X Energy. In 2025 Methanex acquired OCI's methanol business and now reports Natgasoline at a 50% interest, with 850,000 tonnes of annual operating capacity attributed to that share.
Overview
In 2016 OCI N.V. issued a 50% ownership interest in Firewater LLC to G2X Energy, a subsidiary of Consolidated Energy AG, in exchange for G2X's commitment to contribute $630 million in equity and to provide $50 million in shareholder loans if certain construction contingencies arose. The deal closed on May 4, 2016, after Natgasoline LLC, Firewater's wholly owned subsidiary, completed a tax-exempt bond issuance. The project had been announced in 2013 as a greenfield world-scale methanol plant of up to 5,000 metric tons per day, roughly 1.75 million metric tons per annum, and Natgasoline LLC submitted its state and federal environmental approval applications that February.
Profile
- Start-up and production
- Proman reports that the Natgasoline plant started production in June 2018 and has a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per annum. The company describes it as the largest methanol plant in the United States and says it uses Air Liquide MegaMethanol technology with the best available environmental control technologies. Proman's company page says that Proman affiliates and joint-venture partner Methanex lead marketing and distribution of the methanol. Proman's 2018 release described Natgasoline ramping up to full utilization and reaching provisional acceptance, which places the start of production in mid-2018 on a second source.
- 2025 ownership and output
- Methanex acquired OCI's methanol business in late Q2 2025, and its fourth-quarter 2025 results list Beaumont at 910,000 tonnes and Natgasoline at 850,000 tonnes of annual operating capacity, with Natgasoline shown at a 50% interest. The table reports Natgasoline production of 418 for 2025 and 186 for the fourth quarter, against 222 in the third quarter. The plant is therefore now reported inside Methanex's portfolio rather than OCI's, and its output is measured on the same tonnage basis as Methanex's Geismar and Chilean plants.
Facility
- Activity
- Methanol production from natural gas
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Related records
Timeline
- May 4, 2016
- Firewater deal with G2X Energy closes after Natgasoline's tax-exempt bond issuance
OCI in Investment by Consolidated Energy Affiliate in Natgasoline Project | Cleary Gottlieb
- Jun 1, 2018
- Natgasoline starts production, per Proman
Natgasoline - Proman
- Jun 30, 2025
- Methanex completes the OCI acquisition in late Q2 2025
Methanex Reports Fourth Quarter 2025 Results