Motunui (large island in Māori, from Motu Nui[1]) is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, six kilometres east of Waitara.

Motunui
Motunui
Coordinates: 38°59′43″S 174°17′44″E
Country	New Zealand
Region	Taranaki
District	New Plymouth District

Methanol plant

Motunui is the location of the Motunui methanol plant, the largest in the world at the time of construction.[2] It was opened in 1986 to convert natural gas to methanol and the methanol to synthetic petrol using a process developed by Mobil. The plant was one of the Think Big projects of the Third National Government. The process became uneconomic in the late 1990s as a result of falling oil prices, so the synthetic petrol part of the plant was decommissioned, with the production of synthetic petrol ceasing in April 1999.[3] The plant instead produced methanol for export. Production of methanol ceased in 2004 as the approaching depletion of the Maui gas field raised gas prices.[4]

In 2005, an unmanned production station for the new offshore Pohokura oil/gas field was constructed immediately west of the Motunui plant. This began commercial production in September 2006.[5] In 2008, methanol train No.2 was recommissioned followed by train No.1 in 2012.[6]

Currently owned and operated by Methanex, the plant's two trains have a total annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of methanol.[6]

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