Petronas Methanol Sdn. Bhd. (PMLSB) is a subsidiary of Petronas

Petronas

PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...

. It was formed in 1992 when Petronas bought the Methanol

Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

 plant from Sabah Gas Industries. The plant was commissioned under Sabah Gas Industries in 1984 to produce Grade AA Methanol using Lurgi

Lurgi AG

Lurgi GmbH is a German engineering, construction and chemical process licensing company. The head office is located in Frankfurt am Main. Lurgi GmbH has been part of Air Liquide S. A. since 2007.- History :...

's Low Pressure Combined Technology. The plant is located in the Malaysian island of Labuan

Labuan

Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...

Production Process

The main production units are:

• Unit 100: Steam Reforming
• Unit 200: Methanol Synhesis
• Unit 300: Distillation

Plant 2

In 2005, works began on a new Methanol plant. Using Lurgi's MegaMethanol technology, the plant has a nameplate capacity of 5000 mtpd, more than double that of the exisitng plant.