NOVELTY - Producing methanol involves partially oxidizing natural gas comprising methane in autothermal reformer using air stream to create synthesis gas; combining with hydrogen-rich gas to form makeup gas stream (S1); combining (S1) with recycle gas to produce reactor feed; introducing into reactor system containing methanol conversion catalyst; separating reacted gas stream into crude methanol product stream and gas stream (S2); splitting (S2) into recycle gas (S3) and purge gas streams.    USE - For producing methanol (claimed), particularly useful for producing methanol which is implemented or completely contained on a ship, barge, or other seagoing vessel or can be implemented on land.    ADVANTAGE - The oxygen content of the air stream is enhanced to 28-70 (preferably 35-50)%. The method combines the Starchem system for creating synthesis gas, utilizing an air stream with the conventional methanol loop system for reacting synthesis gas to create a methanol stream, while avoiding prior art concerns of efficiency and methanol yield resulting from the presence of nitrogen in the system. The method permits extremely high levels of inerts to be carried into the methanol loop contrary to 80 years of industry practice. The large quantity of reactants in the significantly increased purge stream are separated from the inert portion of the purge stream and returned to be mixed with the incoming syn gas. This allows a large purge without the loss of valuable reactants. A prime benefit of the use of air separation systems is that they allow an alternative to cryogenic oxygen, which significantly reduces the costs associated with the preparation of the synthesis gases. The presence of cryogenic oxygen along with large quantities of methanol creates an extremely hazardous and potentially explosive situation, particularly when there is limited space available, such as on a sea going vessel. The present method avoids this hazard and allows marine application. The nominal capacity of the method is 5000-15000 metric tons per day (MTPD).    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Producing methanol involves: providing an air stream comprising oxygen; providing a natural gas stream comprising methane; partially oxidizing the natural gas stream in an autothermal reformer using the air stream to create a synthesis gas stream comprising hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2); combining the synthesis gas stream with a hydrogen-rich gas stream to form a makeup gas stream; combining the makeup gas stream with a recycle gas stream to produce a reactor feed stream; introducing the reactor feed stream into a reactor system containing a methanol conversion catalyst; where a portion of the reactor feed stream is converted to methanol; withdrawing a reacted gas stream from the reactor system; separating the reacted gas stream into a crude methanol product stream and a gas stream; splitting the gas stream into a recycle gas stream and a purge gas stream; combining the recycle gas stream with the makeup gas stream to form the reactor feed stream; separating the purge gas stream into a fuel gas stream comprising methane (CH4), and N2 and a hydrogen-rich stream comprising H2; and mixing the hydrogen-rich stream into the synthesis gas stream.