BOC builds 'the world's largest' nitrogen plant
15 Jan 2000
BOC is to build the largest nitrogen complex in the world in Mexico, to supply the gas to the state oil company. The project, costing $1billion, involves companies from Europe, North America and Japan.
The complex will be sited at Ciudad del Carmen on the Gulf Mexico. It will produce 1.2billion ft3 per day of high-purity, high-pressure nitrogen, using four generating units, each of which will be the largest ever built, claims BOC. Other facilities at the complex include 400MW equivalent of electricity generation capacity.
The consortium, in which BOC owns 30 per cent, also includes the Marubeni Corporation of Japan (30 per cent), which will develop infrastructure; Westcoast Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company (20 per cent); German contractor Linde (10 per cent) and ICA Fluor Daniel, Mexico's biggest contractor (10 per cent).
The nitrogen generated at the complex will be supplied to the exploration and production arm of Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which will inject it, via 50 miles of pipework, into the Cantarell oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. The consortium has a 15-year contract for nitrogen supply.
