“Cyprus is a good location for medium scale gas-based chemical production like urea fertiliser”, engineering consultants TRU Group Inc of USA & Canada said in a press release on Monday.
Edward Anderson, TRU President, is currently visiting Cyprus to seek investor interest “in building niche natural gas derived chemical or medium-scale energy-intensive industrial operations.”
“The nature of the business we plan to establish will be firmed up over the next few months but could range from the formation of a chemical manufacturing company to only providing the engineering,” the press release said.
“Our plan fits well with the developing situation on gas exploration around Cyprus as the proposed plants may be a better option than, and substitute for, uneconomic liquefaction or export pipeline for natural gas – especially if proven gas reserves are limited yet can be delivered to Cyprus industrial users at a highly competitive price (preferably around $4 per GJ or $150 per 1000 cubic meters of gas).”
According to TRU, “a 1.3 million tpy (tonnes per year) urea fertiliser plant would consume 0.8 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year compared to a minimum 5 billion for an economic LNG processing terminal. “
The urea isproduced by the chemical reforming of the gas.
“I would hope that the government also is attracted to this idea as these industries provide significant value-added benefits to Cyprus in revenues, technology and high paying jobs” TRU’s Anderson said.
The company noted that, in addition to industrial use of gas, more emphasis should be on utility infrastructure.
“At least 0.5 billion cubic metres of the gas supply to Cyprus could be used for power generation and natural gas fired cooling/ heating of buildings could be widely applied. Lower Cypriot energy costs would have positive impacts on development (including even tourism).”
“Whether or not a LNG terminal materialises, the proper strategic focus should in any event be on maximising domestic consumption of natural gas and making sure that it is available at low cost, for the full benefit of Cyprus,” Anderson added.
According to their website, TRU are technical engineering and business advisors, consultants, analysts and facilitators in venture development.
Source: Cyprus Mail
