ExxonMobil boosts low-sulphur diesel output in Singapore

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SINGAPORE (ICIS)–ExxonMobil has started operations at a new hydrotreater at its Singapore refinery, boosting the facility’s low-sulphur diesel capacity to around 25m litres per day, the energy major said on Tuesday.

More than 9m litres/day of the increased capacity can meet ultra-low sulphur diesel specifications, the company said in a statement.

“The addition of the new hydrotreater to our Singapore refinery will help meet the growing demand for fuels in Asia Pacific,” ExxonMobil Asia Pacific chairman and managing director Matthew Aguiar said in the statement.

ExxonMobil expects that diesel demand to grow by about 75% between 2010-2040, mainly from commercial transportation.

“The strongest growth for transportation demand is in Asia Pacific, which remains the largest consumer of heavy-duty vehicle energy and will see a significant increase in personal vehicle ownership, about 500m vehicles [during 2010-2040],” the company said.

ExxonMobil started building its new diesel hydrotreater in Singapore in May 2011.

“This latest investment brings ExxonMobil’s investments in ultra-low sulfur diesel facilities around the world to more than $3bn,” said Chris Erickson, vice president for planning & project execution at ExxonMobil Refining & Supply.

ExxonMobil said it has also constructed diesel hydrotreaters at its refineries in Baytown and Baton Rouge in the US, Antwerp in Belgium, Sriracha in Thailand and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia.

“This new unit [hyrdrotreater], along with the recently completed petrochemical expansion project at our Singapore complex, positions ExxonMobil competitively in the Asia Pacific markets for fuels and chemicals,” Aguiar said.

The expansion of ExxonMobil’s Singapore Chemical Plant (SCP) included a 1m tonne/year petrochemical unit that can crack crude, two 650,000 tonne/year polyethylene units: a 500,000 tonne/year polypropylene unit; a 300,000 tonne/year specialty elastomers unit; a benzene extraction unit that can yield 340,000 tonnes/year of benzene.

It further includes a 125,000 tonne/year oxo-alcohol unit expansion, an 80,000 tonne/year paraxylene expansion, as well as a 220-megawatt power cogeneration unit.

With the expansion, ExxonMobil can now produce more than 2.5m tonnes of new derivative products.

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections