ExxonMobil Considers Polypropylene Production Expansion Along U.S. Gulf Coast
March 20 2018 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
- Facility to manufacture
high-performance, lightweight durable plastics
- Final investment decision could come
later this year
- Project startup as early as 2021
ExxonMobil said today it has started detailed engineering work
on a potential U.S. Gulf Coast project to expand polypropylene
manufacturing capacity by up to 450,000 tons a year to meet growing
demand for high-performance, lightweight durable plastics. A final
decision on the investment, anticipated to be several hundred
million dollars, is expected later this year. Facility startup
could come as early as 2021.
The new facility will be capable of producing advanced
polypropylene products which can be used in high performance
automotive, appliance, and packaging applications. The potential
project will create more than 600 jobs during peak construction and
more than 60 permanent jobs when production starts.
“ExxonMobil is well positioned to take advantage of the growing
global demand for higher-value products, in both North America and
the high-growth Asia Pacific region,” said John Verity, president
of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “Abundant supplies of domestically
produced oil and natural gas have reduced energy costs and created
new sources of feedstock for U.S. chemical manufacturing. Most of
our planned investment in the Gulf Coast region is focused on
supplying emerging markets like Asia with high-demand products,
which ultimately will spur new economic growth locally.”
These advanced polypropylene materials are key to reducing
vehicle weight, which helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces
carbon emissions. Modern plastics and polymer composites, which can
replace steel in many applications, typically comprise about 50
percent of a new car’s volume but only 10 percent of its
weight.
“Polypropylene delivers performance and sustainability benefits
to produce a wide variety of consumer products,” said Cindy
Shulman, ExxonMobil’s vice president of plastics and resins. “It’s
a versatile material providing high impact resistance and high
stiffness to lightweight applications. It is safe, can be recycled
and requires less energy to produce when compared with other
plastics.”
This investment is one of 13 new facilities planned to grow
ExxonMobil’s chemical manufacturing capacity in North America and
Asia Pacific by about 40 percent. These investments, including two
world-class steam crackers in the United States, will enable the
company to meet increasing demand in Asia and other growing
markets.
About ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and
gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the
world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading
inventory of resources, is one of the largest refiners and
marketers of petroleum products and its chemical company is one of
the largest in the world. For more information, visit
www.exxonmobil.com or follow us on Twitter
www.twitter.com/exxonmobil.
Cautionary Statement: Statements of
future events or conditions in this release are forward-looking
statements. Actual future results, including project plans,
schedules, and capacities, sales growth, and other business
results, could differ materially due to factors such as changes in
prices of oil, gas, or petrochemicals and other market factors
affecting the petrochemical industry and the supply and demand for
our products; the occurrence and duration of economic recessions;
timing of funding decisions and project construction; unforeseen
technical or operating difficulties; legal or regulatory events;
the actions of competitors; and other factors discussed under the
heading Factors Affecting Future Results on the Investors page of
our website at exxonmobil.com.
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