【2025 Industry Updates】The three major oil companies (CNPC, Sinopec, and CNOOC) are all entering the green methanol sector
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This post was last edited by zhoudingshengs on 2025-6-12 06:57. As a safe, efficient, and renewable clean energy source, green methanol is in liquid form at normal temperature and pressure, and it offers unique advantages in terms of storage and transportation, multiple applications, and market potential; it is considered an excellent pathway to achieving \"carbon neutrality\". Methanol is an important chemical raw material. The technology related to the chemical industry chain that uses methanol as a starting material is largely mature, and the conditions for its large-scale application are now in place. As global efforts to reduce carbon emissions continue, \"green methanol\" is attracting attention from research institutions, the business community, and capital markets. "The green methanol strategies of the ‘Big Three Oil Companies’ represent not only a desperate attempt by traditional energy giants to transition to new energy sources, but also a crucial move by China in its bid to gain influence in the global race toward low-carbon development. The outcome of this battle over a market worth trillions of dollars could determine the energy landscape for the next 30 years. In 2023, the Chinese energy sector witnessed a landmark event: the three major oil companies, Sinopec, CNPC, and CNOOC, all entered the field of green methanol. Sinopec has launched a 10,000-ton per year biomass-to-methanol project in Guangxi; CNPC’s Daqing project has received international authoritative certification, while CNOOC is accelerating its development efforts in Beihai, Guangxi. It also issued a Notice on Negotiations for Raw Material Supply for the Green Methanol Project to fully advance the project development. Behind this series of actions lies the strategic response of traditional energy giants to the \"dual carbon\" goals; it is also a battle to secure control over the future discourse on energy. Especially this year, investment in green methanol in China is booming, attracting many companies from sectors such as power, transportation, chemicals, and new energy to get involved in this field.
The three major oil companies are pursuing green methanol projects: firstly, in line with China’s ‘dual carbon’ goals and international market demands, they aim to gain a first-mover advantage in the development of the domestic green methanol industry； Second, it is to explore new directions and accumulate experience for the transformation and upgrading of its own industrial structure ； Third, it aims to find a viable path for the green and low-carbon development of China’s methanol industry.
Green methanol, also known as renewable methanol, serves as a sustainable fuel and a raw material for the chemical industry. It boasts advantages such as a wide range of available sources, low environmental impact, and renewability, and has become one of the key green fuels for decarbonizing the international shipping industry. In the future, green methanol is also expected to become one of the main alternative fuels for decarbonizing the traditional chemical industry. Therefore, major energy and chemical companies are currently accelerating their efforts to develop green methanol projects, with a large number of such projects being put into operation at an accelerated pace.
The three major oil companies have certain advantages in the field of green methanol compared to power and transportation companies. First, they have established methanol production plants in China that use natural gas as raw material, and they possess advantages in terms of technical expertise, operational experience, sales channels, logistics, and warehousing ； Secondly, the ‘three major oil companies’ have their own rigid demands; their refining and processing units use methanol as a basic raw material ； Third, they possess strong internal capabilities and a high risk resistance, making them suitable for investing in capital-intensive chemical projects that require high levels of technical expertise and are of a fundamental nature.
Currently, the demand for green methanol in the shipping industry is beginning to emerge. The international shipping giant Maersk has signed a long-term purchase agreement for bio-methanol with LONGi Green Energy ； It also signed a green methanol fuel supply agreement worth 500,000 tons per year with Goldwind Science & Technology. Recently, the Shanghai port has successfully received green methanol deliveries on three occasions. According to projections by the Global Methanol Institute and the International Renewable Energy Agency, global methanol demand is expected to reach 500 million tons by 2050, with demand for green methanol exceeding 300 million tons. According to projections, by 2029, global production capacity for green methanol – including biomass-based methanol and methanol produced electrically – could reach 20 million tons per year, with China having the largest production capacity in the world. It appears that in the future, our country is likely to occupy an important market share in the global green methanol sector.
At present, there is no unified international standard for defining green methanol. **The Renewable Energy Agency recommends classifying methanol into green, blue, gray, and brown categories based on the source of its raw materials.
Methanol, also known as hydroxymethane, wood alcohol, or pyrolusite, is an organic compound and the simplest structurally saturated monohydric alcohol. Its chemical formula is CH3OH/CH4O; its boiling point is 64.7°C, and its relative density is 0.792 kg/L. Methanol is lightweight, highly volatile, and flammable; it is a colorless and transparent liquid with an irritating odor. Methanol is water-soluble and biodegradable, breaking down into carbon dioxide and water.
The upstream sources of methanol include coal, natural gas, coke oven gas, etc. China’s energy structure, characterized by abundant coal, scarce oil, and limited gas, determines that methanol production is primarily based on coal. According to data from China Chemical Industry News, in 2022, the production of methanol from coal was 67.941 million tons, accounting for 84.7% of the total production. The remaining share came from methanol produced from coke oven gas, accounting for 9.1% of the total, and methanol produced from natural gas, accounting for 6.3%.
As one of the important chemical raw materials, methanol can be used directly in chemical synthesis; its main downstream products include olefins, formaldehyde, acetic acid, dimethyl ether, MTBE, DMF, and others. In recent years, the pattern of downstream consumption of methanol has remained largely unchanged; olefins continue to hold the leading position, accounting for 54% of demand ； Methanol fuel has seen rapid development thanks to its unique environmental benefits and cost-effectiveness, ranking second ； Traditional formaldehyde and acetic acid ranked third and fourth respectively.
Among the various production pathways for methanol, green hydrogen can be integrated with multiple of these pathways. Processes such as coal-to-methanol and carbon dioxide hydrogenation to methanol all present a certain scale of demand for green hydrogen. At the same time, the safety and cost-effectiveness of methanol for hydrogen storage, as well as the safety, efficiency, and low emissions of hydrogen production and processing technologies, can also facilitate the effective development of the hydrogen energy industry.
As the world pays more attention to climate change and key sectors such as global shipping impose strict requirements for the use of \"zero-carbon\" fuels, the demand for green methanol will continue to increase. As an important basic chemical industry in our country, the green methanol sector takes advantage of technologies such as carbon reduction, utilization of green electricity, and carbon dioxide utilization. Under the broader goal of carbon neutrality, the development of green methanol has become an inevitable trend.