ExxonMobil Corp. has taken a final investment decision on a multibillion-dollar expansion to convert fuel oil and other bottom-of-the-barrel crude products into higher-value lube base stocks and distillates at subsidiary ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.’s integrated manufacturing complex in Singapore, which has a crude oil processing capacity of 592,000 b/d and includes two steam crackers (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2017).
The expansion project is part of the company’s plan to further enhance the competitiveness of the Singapore complex, which includes the world’s only steam cracker capable of cracking crude oil, ExxonMobil said.
The project will add 20,000 b/d of Group II base stocks capacity, which includes EHCTM 50 and EHCTM 120 grades, in addition to a new high-viscosity Group II base stock to meet increasing demand in the Asia-Pacific region.
The expansion also will expand capacity to increase production of cleaner fuels with lower-sulfur content by 48,000 b/d, including high-quality marine fuels to enable customers to meet the International Maritime Organization’s 0.5% sulfur requirement set to take effect in January 2020, the company said.
The project additionally will apply new—but yet-to-be-identified—chemicals technologies to leverage integration across the crude cracker and refining complex to further enhance the competitiveness of crude cracking, said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Co.
A combination of proprietary catalyst and other process technologies also will be employed as part of the expansion to help meet growing demand for high-performance lubricants, added Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants Co.
ExxonMobil confirmed it has let a contract to Tecnicas Reunidas SA to deliver engineering, procurement, and construction activities on the project, as well as a contract to John Wood Group PLC to provide EPC services interconnecting pipelines and supporting infrastructure installations for the expansion.
The operator also said it is working on a long-term commercial agreement with Linde PLC to upgrade residue from the Singapore site to hydrogen and synthesis gas.
With Tecnicas Reunidas already undertaking its EPC activities on the expansion, ExxonMobil said it expects the project to be completed and ready for startup in 2023.
This latest project represents the latest in a series of recent investments in global base stock production by ExxonMobil, including a 2015 expansion of the Singapore complex as well as startup of an enhanced hydrocracking unit in 2018 at subsidiary Esso Nederland BV’s 191,000-b/d refinery in Rotterdam (OGJ Online, Oct. 31, 2018).
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
