BP Canada Energy Marketing Company (BP) and Secure Energy, Incorporated announced that they have entered into a long term natural gas sales agreement whereby BP will purchase up to 67 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Secure Energy Decatur Plant once it has been constructed and becomes operational. Secure Energy will have the option to separately sell natural gas to industrial customers in the Decatur, Illinois area for a portion of its production and BP has agreed to purchase any natural gas not sold locally.


Secure Energy also has announced that the State of Illinois has issued the air permit for the construction of the Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant. The Secure Energy Decatur Gasification plant will utilize gasification to create a substitute natural gas (SNG), a pipeline quality natural gas.


“The issuance of the air permit is a major milestone in the development of the Decatur project. The Decatur plant will serve as Secure Energy’s reference plant that we intend to replicate in similar sites throughout the nation,” said Lars Scott, President and Co-Founder of Secure Energy. “Secure Energy’s facility in Decatur will demonstrate how Illinois’ abundant coal reserves can be utilized in an environmentally friendly manner to reduce our demand for foreign sources of energy.”


The Secure Energy Decatur Gasification Plant is a coal to pipeline quality synthetic natural gas (SNG) conversion facility planned for an existing industrial site in Decatur, Illinois. The plant will convert up to 1.4 million tons per year of high-sulfur Illinois coal into pipeline quality natural gas. It is projected that the plant will have an average initial gas production of 45,000 mmBtu/day of natural gas with the capability of producing up to 67,000 mmBtu/day. The plant is projected to require an investment of over $250 million and will require 40 full time employees to operate the plant. In addition to jobs created at the plant, the project will create a number of construction, mining and trucking jobs in the Decatur area.