Singapore: ExxonMobil to raise 'green' diesel output

Company may invest US$500m in new hydrotreater plant
Ronnie Lim Business Times 24 Nov 10;

(SINGAPORE) ExxonMobil - with its US$11 billion Singapore refinery and petrochemicals facility already being its largest manufacturing site worldwide - is adding yet another major diesel hydrotreater plant to ramp up production of 'green' diesel for the growing regional market.

While the company did not specify the investment amount, industry sources reckon it will be around US$500 million.

The greenlight for the new ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) plant comes as the oil giant is well over halfway through building its US$5 billion second petrochemical complex on Jurong Island which is scheduled to start up in the second half of next year.

'ExxonMobil has completed feasibility studies and early design work on the new unit. Once the unit is completed, the refinery's total low sulphur diesel capacity will rise to more than 25 million litres per day,' the company said, adding to its current ULSD production of about 16 million litres per day.

The company is currently in the process of awarding the main contracts for the project, including for its engineering, procurement and construction, and the new ULSD plant is expected to be up and running in 2014.

It will be capable of producing 'more than' Euro IV specification diesel (which has a maximum sulphur content of 50 parts per million), an EM spokesperson told BT, meaning it can also produce Euro V specification diesel of a maximum 10 ppm sulphur content.

This is significant given that Singapore's National Environment Agency has recently been sounding out the oil companies here on the possibility of their introducing Euro V specification diesel by end-2014. (It had earlier legislated use of Euro IV specification diesel here since October 2006.)

ExxonMobil's announcement yesterday confirms earlier BT reports that the US oil giant was planning further expansions on additional land being reclaimed by JTC Corporation at Ayer Chawan Basin, which is next to the EM and Singapore Refining Company facilities.

'The decision to move forward with the engineering and construction of the diesel hydrotreater at our Singapore refinery reflects both the increasing demand for diesel fuel in the region and ExxonMobil's confidence in Singapore's business climate,' said Chris Erickson, EM Refining & Supply's vice-president for planning and project execution.

Kwa Chong Seng, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, said: 'The diesel hydrotreater is just the latest in a series of major investments EM has made in Singapore to meet the increasing demand in the Asia Pacific region.'

When used in modern engines, ULSD - which is commonly used to run everything from tractor trailers, buses and marine vessels to off-road equipment like threshers and locomotives - leads to improved air quality.

The go-ahead for Singapore follows the recent completion of similar diesel hydrotreater projects at ExxonMobil's refineries in Baytown and Baton Rouge in the US, and in Antwerp in Belgium.

Those investment totalled over US$1 billion and increased its ULSD supply capacity by over 22 million litres per day, the company said.

The Singapore investment 'further demonstrates EM's commitment to disciplined refinery investment', it added.

ExxonMobil operates Singapore's largest refinery with 605,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, and it is currently building a second petrochemical complex here including a one million tonnes per annum cracker, adding to its earlier 900,000 tpa cracker at its first petrochemical complex.