Methanex confirms its last NZ factory will close if Māui shuts
Friday, 1 May 2026
Methanex has confirmed it will need to close its last remaining methanol-manufacturing plant in Taranaki if Austrian oil giant OMV follows through on its stated intention of shutting the Māui gas field by the end of the year.
Speaking on a conference call with analysts overnight, the chief executive of the Canadian firm, Rich Sumner, noted OMV’s statement about closing the gas field.
“If that happens, we would no longer be capable of running our plant,” Sumner said.
OMV has given notice to the Government and regulators that the Māui gas field is “expected to cease production by the end of 2026”.
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Its New Zealand subsidiary clarified in a statement that no final decisions had been made on the timing and the notification was “a regulatory requirement for fields approaching their end”.
Sumner also indicated there were some ongoing discussions.
“We are working with gas suppliers and looking at all options to monetise our gas position, including producing methanol or selling gas, while operating safely and reliably,” he said, but added the outlook was “tough and structurally challenging”.
Methanex has historically been by far the largest consumer of natural gas in New Zealand, but has cut back its use and its own production as supplies have dwindled.
Its Motunui plant is the last of three it used to operate in Taranaki, but is still believed to employ about 170 staff.
Resources Minister Shane Jones appeared to play down any option of using an as-yet unallocated $200 million Gas Security Fund the Government has established to attempt to induce OMV to keep Māui operating longer.
The terms of the fund appear to make clear its purpose is to instead encourage new gas supplies.
“I haven’t had an application from OMV. They’re a monstrous billion dollar company, and I dare say that access to a $200m sum of money is relatively small beer to them,” Jones said.
OMV has a market capitalisation of €19 billion (NZ$38 billion).
The director of E tū’s engineering, infrastructure and extractive industries division, Mat Danaher, said on Wednesday that New Plymouth and the wider Taranaki region had lost about 1700 jobs in that sector over the past few years.
There was an urgent need to establish alternative employment opportunities of similar or equal value for people in the area to avoid “devastating consequences for New Plymouth”, he said.