Motunui
Place in Taranaki, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 |
Industry
Motunui is the location of the Motunui methanol plant, which was the largest in the world at the time of construction.[2] It was opened in 1986 to convert natural gas to methanol, then 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 petrol production ceasing in April 1999,[3] and 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] Methanol train No. 2 was recommissioned in 2008, followed by train No. 1 in 2012.[5] Currently owned and operated by Methanex, the plant's two trains have a total annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes of methanol.[5]
In 2005, an unmanned production station for the new offshore Pohokura oil/gas field was constructed immediately west of the methanol plant. This began commercial production in September 2006.[6]
August 2004 tornado
On the morning of 15 August 2004, a rare and deadly F3 tornado struck Motunui. The tornado killed two people and injured two others when a farmhouse on Epiha Road was completely demolished. A glass house was damaged, and livestock was killed. The tornado was the strongest ever recorded in New Zealand.[7]