VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—(CCNMatthews – Oct. 12, 2006) – Methanex Corporation (TSX:MX)(NASDAQ:MEOH) –

On October 11, 2006, the government of Argentina passed a resolution that extends the existing export duty on oil, natural gas and derivatives to the province of Tierra del Fuego effective October 20, 2006. Exports from this province had previously been exempt from this duty.

As a result of this resolution, the duty on natural gas exports, which was recently increased from approximately $0.30 per mmbtu to $2.25 per mmbtu, will apply to all of the natural gas feedstock that we source from Argentina, or approximately 60% of the total current gas supply to our plants in Chile.

For all natural gas that we source from Argentina, we have contractual protection against such export duty. However, over the past couple of months, we have been in discussions with certain of our Argentinean gas suppliers regarding the impact of the increased export duty. We cannot provide assurance that this export duty will not have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Methanex is a Vancouver based, publicly-traded company engaged in the worldwide production and marketing of methanol. Methanex shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada under the trading symbol “MX” and on the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States under the trading symbol “MEOH”. Methanex can be visited online at www.methanex.com.

Methanex Corporation
Wendy Bach
Director, Investor Relations
(604) 661-2600
Website: www.methanex.com