An investment project for the construction of a plant for the production of methanol from natural gas in Turkmenistan was proposed by a consortium of European companies Edison Technologies, MMEC Mannesmann GmbH, Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions and the Chinese company SINOPEC Engineering Group.

According to the official website of the oil and gas complex of Turkmenistan, this large-scale project was presented at the first Caspian economic forum in AVAZA.

According to the information, methanol is widely used in the production of chemical products, plastic, plywood, paints, varnish, cosmetics, and liquid energy resources, and methanol is in growing demand in the world market. The main consumers of methanol are Asian and European countries, mainly Germany and China. The reason for the increasing demand for methanol is also due to the fact that it serves as a liquid energy resource as a transport fuel. Expanding the use of methanol in the chemical industry will lead to the fact that in the future it will become the main raw material in this industry.

Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in natural gas reserves after Russia, Iran, and Qatar. The energy strategy implemented in the country provides for the diversification of the use of natural gas, including for the production of a variety of finished products of gas chemistry. So, in June this year in Akhal province a new industrial complex was put into operation — a plant for the production of synthetic gasoline ECO-93 from natural gas, the information says.