MOVES: Pryor to retire as president of US ExxonMobil Chemical

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Stephen Pryor will retire as the president of ExxonMobil Chemical, effective on 1 January, the company said on Friday.

It is expected that the ExxonMobil board of directors will appoint Neil Chapman as Pryor’s successor, effective on 1 January. The board will also likely elect Chapman as vice president of ExxonMobil.

Chapman is currently senior vice president, polymers, ExxonMobil Chemical.

Pryor has led ExxonMobil Chemical since 2008.

Pryor’s tenure saw the fortunes of not just ExxonMobil Chemical but the US industry as a whole reverse as a result of the advent of shale gas.

The increased US supplies of ethane gave producers in the country a feedstock advantage against much of the world, which relies on oil-based naphtha.

Under Pryor, ExxonMobil was among the first wave of companies to announce new cracker expansions.

The company started construction at its 1.5m tonne/year ethane cracker this year. The plant will provide ethylene feedstock for downstream chemical processing, including two new 650,000 tonne/year polyethylene (PE) lines at the company’s Mont Belvieu site in Texas. Production at the new plants is expected to start up in 2017.

The company did not limit its activity to the US. This year, it also opened the world’s first facility that could directly crack crude at its complex in Singapore.

Pryor had spoken at events inaugurating both sites, and he frequently represented the company at conferences.

Pryor joined what was then Mobil in 1971 and held several financial and manager positions. In 2004 he was appointed president of ExxonMobil Refining & Supply. He became president of ExxonMobil Chemical four years later.

Pryor’s retirement will mark more than 44 years with the company.

Earlier this year, Pryor received the American Chemistry Council’s Distinguished Leadership Award for outstanding contributions on behalf of the organisation and the chemical industry. Pryor was selected by the organisation’s officers as the 2014 recipient of the honour.