Multi-million dollar L.P.G. plant move expected

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 1

Multi-million dollar L.P.G. plant move expected

PA Wellington A big step towards mass production of liquefied petroleum gas (L.P.G.) will probably be announced soon, and will be another step in the right direction for South Island gas consumers. > Plans to establish a multi-million dollar L.P.G. plant in Taranaki and a bulk distribution system covering all of New Zealand, will be disclosed. The Government has already announced its intention to establish a common L.P.G. price in the North and South Islands for bulk quantities of Maui gas.

The chairman of Maui Development, Ltd, (Sir Arnold Nordmeyer) said yesterday that progress had been made during special meetings in Wellington this week.

“It looks as if we ought to be able to announce something soon,” he said. “That could be in a week or so, but it might also be months away.” Details of L.P.G. activities have been before the Maui consortium and the Government for many months. It is believed that the project will require an investment of SIOOM by Maui Development, Ltd, a consortium which consists of the Government, Offshore Mining, Ltd, and Shell-BP-Todd, Ltd which discovered the main gasfield in 1969.

Studies by the company have shown that the field has the potential to provide 400,000 tonnes of L.P.G. annually. It is believed that Maui Development was on the verge of going ahead with the project last year, but the Government’s announcement that L.P.G. would be sold at a common price in the South Island and the North Island sent the company reeling. In their view, the common national price made the scheme uneconomic because of the high transport costs of sending L.P.G. to the South Island. However, the Government, intent on promoting the use of alternative

fuels to reduce New Zealand’s dependence on imported oil, has apparently agreed to subsidise the cost of L.P.G. for the South Island. The Government has also said that it will promote the use of compressed natural gas as an alternative transport fuel, but the potential market for L.P.G. is still very big.

The use of C.N.G. in transport, for instance, will be confined to those areas of the North Island supplied with natural gas. L.P.G. can also be used as an industrial and corn* rnercial fuel, as a feedstock for gas, and as a premium fuel for cooking and heating.