Kay Cashman, Petroleum News
On July 9, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, executed loan agreements for project loan financing of up to $70 million to support Alyeschem LLC’s $140 million development of a first-of-its-kind methanol and ultra-low sulfur diesel production facility on Alaska’s North Slope. This strategic investment will help monetize stranded natural gas, create jobs, reduce fuel imports, and strengthen the state’s energy infrastructure, AIDEA said in a press release the same day.
The facility — part of Alyeschem’s Distributed Chemical Manufacturing, or DCheM, platform at Prudhoe Bay — will convert North Slope natural gas and waste COz into methanol and hydrogen. The hydrogen will be used to refine high-sulfur diesel into ultra-low sulfur diesel, or ULSD, reducing emissions and improving fuel quality for oilfield operations.
The plant will also serve as a launchpad for future clean fuel and chemical production, including possibly dimethyl ether, or DME, and enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, chemicals.