Motunui is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is located on State Highway 3

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight

North Taranaki Bight

The North Taranaki Bight is the name given to the large bay which extends north and east from the north coast of Taranaki in New Zealand's North Island. The name is echoed by the South Taranaki Bight to the south of Cape Egmont....

, six kilometres east of Waitara

Waitara, New Zealand

Waitara is the name of a town and a river in the northern part of the Taranaki Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Waitara is located just off State Highway 3, 15 km northeast of New Plymouth....

.

Motunui is best known as the location of the Motunui methanol plant, the largest in the world at the time of construction. This was opened in 1986, converting natural gas to methanol

Methanol

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...

 and the methanol to synthetic petrol using a process developed by Mobil

Mobil

Mobil, previously known as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, was a major American oil company which merged with Exxon in 1999 to form ExxonMobil. Today Mobil continues as a major brand name within the combined company, as well as still being a gas station sometimes paired with their own store or On...

. The plant was one of the Think Big

Think Big

The New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon and his New Zealand National Party government in the early 1980s sponsored Think Big as an interventionist state economic strategy. The Think Big schemes saw the government borrow heavily overseas, running up a large external deficit, and using the...

 projects of the Third National Government

Third National Government of New Zealand

The Third National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. It was an economically and socially conservative government, which aimed to preserve the Keynesian economic system established by the First Labour government while also being socially conservative...

.
The process became uneconomic in the late 1990s as a result of falling oil prices, so the plant was switched to producing methanol for export. It ceased production in 2004 as the approaching depletion of the Maui gas field

Maui gas field

The Maui natural gas field is the largest gas, natural gas condensate and oil field in New Zealand, producing nearly three-quarters of the country's hydrocarbons, as well as providing energy for electricity generation. It is located in the Tasman Sea, 35 km off the coast of Taranaki and to the...

 raised gas prices.

In 2005, an unmanned production station for the new offshore Pohokura oil/gas field

Pohokura field

The Pohokura field is an oil and gas field located 4 km offshore of north Taranaki in New Zealand, in approximately 30 m of water. The field was discovered in 2000 by Fletcher Challenge and has total estimated reserves of 996 Bcf of gas and 59.4 mmbbls of condensate.The field has 6 offshore and 3...

was constructed immediately west of the Motunui plant. This commenced commercial production in September 2006.

Business history

• This is a supplement to the Taranaki Daily News of 22 February 1986.

Schools

• The name of the school was changed from Waihi to Motunui in 1917

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