ExxonMobil makes final investment decision on Singapore complex expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil said that it has made a final investment decision on a multi-billion dollar expansion of its integrated manufacturing complex in Singapore to convert fuel oil and other bottom-of-the-barrel crude products into higher-value lube base stocks and distillates, reported Reuters.

The expansion project is part of the company’s plan to further enhance the competitiveness of the Singapore facility, which includes the world’s only steam cracker capable of cracking crude oil. The project, which leverages proprietary technologies, integration and scale, will significantly increase site downstream and chemical earnings potential. Engineering, procurement and construction activities have begun, and startup is anticipated in 2023.

"The demand for high-quality fuels and lubricants will increase as the global economy expands,” said Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Fuels & Lubricants Company. “By using a combination of proprietary catalyst and process technologies, we will increase the site’s competitiveness and help meet growing demand for high-performance lubricants and cleaner fuels."

The investment will add 20,000 barrels per day of ExxonMobil 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 project also applies new chemicals technologies and leverages integration across the crude cracker and refining complex to further enhance the competitiveness of crude cracking," said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

The expansion will add the capacity to increase production of cleaner fuels with lower-sulfur content by 48,000 barrels per day, including high-quality ExxonMobil Marine fuels to enable customers to meet the International Maritime Organization’s 0.50 percent sulfur requirement.

The project represents the latest and most significant in a series of recent ExxonMobil investments in base stock production. Recent ExxonMobil EHCTM Group II base stock investments include a 2015 expansion in Singapore and the startup of a world-scale, enhanced hydrocracker unit in Rotterdam in 2018.

"The decision to expand our operations in Singapore helps to further establish ExxonMobil as a regional leader in producing innovative products that help customers improve fuel economy and reduce emissions," said Gan Seow Kee, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. "This is the latest in a series of major investments in Singapore and builds on our commitment to enhance our growth and competitiveness in the Asia Pacific region."

Engineering, procurement and construction contracts have been awarded to Tecnicas Reunidas for the new process units, and Wood Group for interconnecting pipelines and supporting infrastructure facilities. As part of the project, ExxonMobil is working on a long-term commercial agreement with Linde to upgrade residue from the site to hydrogen and synthesis gas.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2017, ExxonMobil Chemical Company commenced production on the first of two new 650,000 tons-per-year high-performance polyethylene (PE) lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The full project, part of the company’s multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area and ExxonMobil’s broader Growing the Gulf expansion initiative, will increase the plant’s polyethylene capacity by approximately 1.3 million tons per year. The Mont Belvieu plant capacity will total more than 2.5 million tons per year, making it one of the largest polyethylene plants in the world.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world's oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron announced in January it would buy the Pasadena Refining System Inc (PRSI) plant owned by Petrobras for USD350 million, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We expected them to take over on Monday," one of the sources said on Tuesday.

Last week, the Brazilian flag and a Petrobras flag were not visible on flag poles in front of the Pasadena refinery. Both have been flying there since Petrobras took over sole ownership of the plant in 2012.

On Tuesday, a Petrobras sign in front of the refinery was covered up.

"We continue to expect the PRSI transaction to close in the first half of 2019," said Chevron spokesman Braden Reddall on Tuesday.

A Petrobras spokeswoman did not reply to messages on Tuesday seeking to comment.

On Sunday, PRSI filed notices with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and the 56,000 bpd gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at the Pasadena refinery were shut for required maintenance.

Energy industry intelligence service Genscape said the refinery’s 100,000 bpd crude distillation unit and a 23,000 bpd catalytic reformer were also shut on Sunday at the refinery.

The Pasadena refinery was at the center of a corruption probe by the Brazilian government into Petrobras. The company paid more than USD1 billion for the plant by the time it took sole ownership in 2012.

In addition to the refinery, Chevron is buying a terminal, land surrounding the refinery and a trading company owned by PRSI.

Chevron is buying the Pasadena plant to run sweet crude oil it produces in Texas. It will be the second Gulf Coast refinery owned by the company.

The CDU does the primary breakdown of crude oil into hydrocarbon feedstocks for all other production units. The reformer produces octane-boosting chemicals added to gasoline.

An ESP removes fine catalyst particles from the emissions of the unit. The catalyst is used to convert gas oil into gasoline within an FCCU.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2018, Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., and Novvi LLC announced that they had entered into an agreement to jointly develop and bring to market novel renewable base oil technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency is waiting to receive input from the Department of Energy to process 2018 applications exempting small refineries from US biofuel laws, reported Reuters with reference to the agency’s administrator Andrew Wheeler.

Speaking at a hearing at the House Appropriations Committee, Wheeler said he expected to receive the DOE input over the next couple of days and would process the applications "on a timely basis."

"As far as the 2018 applications we have not received the official applications from DOE yet," Wheeler said at the hearing about EPA’s budget. "We’re expecting those any day now, probably the next couple of days."

Currently, there are 39 outstanding petitions for exemptions for 2018, EPA data shows.

The Renewable Fuel Standard is a federal program that requires that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains a minimum amount of renewables biofuels like ethanol each year, or that refiners buy blending credits from those that conform with the program.

But small facilities with a capacity of less than 75,000 barrels per day, that can prove that complying with the RFS would cause them significant financial strain, can seek to be exempted from the biofuel law.

The RFS program has been a financial boon for corn farmers in the Midwest, but merchant refiners say it has added hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance costs.

Under President Donald Trump, the EPA has vastly expanded the program, granting waivers to plants of oil majors, including Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp, drawing the ire of the corn industry, a key Trump constituency.

The number of small refinery exemptions granted grew from seven in 2015 to at least 35 in 2017, EPA data shows.

Asked if the EPA was going to be able to rule on all of them within a 90-day period, Wheeler said it would try.

"If we get all 39 in one day it might be difficult to process all of them in 90 days, but we will do on a rolling basis," he said.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has repurchased 942,782 of its own ordinary shares in the period from March 25, 2019 up to and including March 29, 2019, at an average price of EUR79.32 per share, said the company.

The consideration of the repurchase was EUR74.8 million.

This is part of a repurchase program announced on February 13, 2019. The total number of shares repurchased under this program to date is 4,096,962 ordinary shares for a total consideration of EUR327.0 million.

AkzoNobel intends to repurchase common shares up to a value of EUR2.5 billion as part of a total EUR6.5 billion being distributed to shareholders following the sale of the Specialty Chemicals business. The share buyback is due to be completed by the end of 2019.

In accordance with regulations, AkzoNobel will inform the market about the progress made in the execution of this program through weekly updates and on the Share buyback overview page.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- New York City-based Investment firm One Rock Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Nexeo Plastics, which is the plastics distribution business of Nexeo Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of Univar Inc., as per Canplastics.

The USD640-million deal was first announced in February. The new business will continue to be led by Shawn Williams, the executive vice president of Nexeo Plastics.

"Our partnership with One Rock and new structure as a pure-play plastics distribution business will allow us to focus our talent and resources on expanding our service offering for our suppliers and customers worldwide,” Williams said in a statement.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, Nexeo Plastics is a global leader in the distribution of plastics products, including polymer products and prime engineering resins, and supplies customers in more than 60 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.

MRC earlier said, Nexeo Univar Inc., has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Nexeo Solutions, creating a leading global chemical and ingredients solutions provider. The combined company will conduct business as Univar Solutions, reflecting a commitment to combining the 'best of the best' from each legacy organization.
MRC