Methanex indefinitely shut down its Titan methanol plant yesterday morning.This was confirmed by managing director and president of Methanex Trinidad and Tobago Colin Bain, when contacted by the Express yesterday.In a brief WhatsApp exchange, he said, “Titan ceased production this morning.”Former prime minister and energy minister Stuart Young, in a post yesterday, blamed the Government led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for this shutdown.“Sad day for our energy sector in Trinidad and Tobago as Methanex commences its indefinite shutdown. Titan is being taken offline,” he wrote.Young continued: “This shutdown is due to the Kamla Persad-Bissessar Government’s inability to negotiate commercial terms—incompetent and unsophisticated. The PNM administration managed to get commercial negotiations done from 2015 to 2025, keeping our gas sector going with jobs, forex (foreign exchange) earnings, and benefits to Trinidad and Tobago. In less than a year, the UNC has destroyed our energy sector. Who is winning?”Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal was contacted for comment yesterday, but there was no immediate response.On June 29, Methanex Corporation announced its plans to indefinitely idle its Titan methanol plant in Pt Lisas as it was unable to agree to a new natural gas contract.In a release that day, the Vancouver, BC, Canada-based company stated, “Methanex Corporation announced today that it has been unable to agree to a new natural gas contract for its Titan methanol plant in Trinidad and Tobago (860,000 tonnes per year capacity) and, as a result, will begin the process of indefinitely idling the facility.”It stated that Titan’s existing natural gas contract expires in September.The company employs more than 100 people.“Methanex will undertake a preservation process at the Titan plant to provide optionality for a future restart should conditions materially improve,” the company added.The Atlas methanol plant, a joint venture in which Methanex holds a 63.1% economic interest, remains indefinitely idled in a preserved state.President and chief executive officer of Methanex Corporation Rich Sumner stated, “We have a long history in Trinidad and Tobago with an outstanding organisation that has played an important role in our company’s history. This difficult decision reflects our focus on preserving long-term shareholder value in a challenging environment where the structurally tight gas supply and demand balances in Trinidad and Tobago are making operations commercially unviable.”He added, “Ahead of this decision, we engaged extensively with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC), and we recognise and appreciate their ongoing efforts to address the country’s gas supply challenges. We will monitor future developments closely, with a view to reassessing conditions and our position over the coming years. We are now focused on supporting our team members during this challenging period and safely idling and preserving the facility.”Titan is not currently contributing to the company’s adjusted EBITDA and adjusted free cash flow.“Methanex does not expect to incur material cash costs as a result of this decision and any updates to production or financial guidance will be released with Methanex’s regular second quarter financial communications scheduled for July 28, 2026,” it stated.Methanex is a Vancouver-based, publicly traded company and is the world’s largest supplier of methanol. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol MEOH and on the Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States.The company had idled its Atlas methanol plant in September 2024 and restarted operations at its smaller Titan methanol plant due to a lack of gas.On March 16, 2020, Methanex idled the Atlas plant “in response to the reduction in global manufacturing activity and methanol demand resulting from the global pandemic”.This is the second international energy player to leave T&T in recent months.On October 23, 2025, Nutrien commenced a controlled shutdown of its Trinidad Nitrogen operations at the Pt Lisas facility.“This shutdown is in response to port access restrictions imposed by Trinidad and Tobago’s National Energy Corporation (NEC) and a lack of reliable and economic natural gas supply that has reduced the free cash flow contribution of the Trinidad Nitrogen operations over an extended period of time. Nutrien will continue to engage with stakeholders and assess options with respect to its operations in Trinidad,” Nutrien stated then.In May, while Nutrien began the process to sell its T&T assets, Methanex had signalled it was actively weighing its options amid uncertain gas supply negotiations with NGC.