Construction of Exxon Chemical Co.'s $2 billion petrochemical complex on Jurong Island, Singapore-the firm's largest project in the Asia-Pacific region-is on schedule. The company said that 40% of the work had been completed since the project was launched in early 1997.
The project, which includes an 800,000 tonne/year ethylene plant, is expected to be ready by the last quarter of next year. A key milestone in the construction of the plant was reached recently when an 800-tonne tower structure-the C2 splitter tower-was installed.
Exxon is extremely pleased not only with the progress of the project, but also with the outstanding safety performance that has been achieved so far, says complex Managing Director Warwick Bisley. The 4,000 workers at the site have completed 7 million work-hr without any injury, Bisley added.
The petrochemicals complex is the first steam-cracker in Singapore to be integrated fully with a refinery, which is run by Exxon's local affiliate, Esso Singapore.
Kellogg Brown & Root, a unit of US-based Halliburton, and Japanese engineering firm Chiyoda Corp. are building the ethylene plant, the largest component of the complex. The complex will include a 480,000 tonne/year polyethylene plant, a 275,000 tonne/year polypropylene plant, and a facility to produce 150,000 tonnes/year of oxo-alcohol.
