HOUSTON--ExxonMobil Chemical Company announced today that its Singapore affiliate
has completed its acquisition of one of the world’s largest aromatics
facilities on Jurong Island in Singapore. The acquisition was first
announced in May 2017.
The facility, previously owned by Jurong Aromatics Corporation, is
located near ExxonMobil’s largest integrated refining and petrochemical
complex, which has an ethylene production capacity of 1.9 million tonnes
per year and a crude oil processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day.
The acquisition will strengthen both sites with operational and
logistical synergies, as well as increase ExxonMobil’s Singapore
aromatics production to over 3.5 million tonnes per year, including 1.8
million tonnes of paraxylene, and add about 65,000 barrels per day of
transportation fuels capacity.
“This strategic investment in our aromatics business in Singapore is a
reflection of our ongoing commitment to meet the growing global demand
for chemical products, particularly in Asia Pacific,” said Karen McKee,
senior vice president of basic chemicals, intermediates and synthetics
for ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “As a leading global manufacturer of
aromatics, we are well positioned to serve our customers in these key
markets.”
ExxonMobil has operated in Singapore for more than 120 years and is one
of the country’s largest international manufacturing investors.
Singapore’s integrated petrochemical complex can process a wide range of
feedstocks, from light gases to crude oil. Later this year, the complex
will begin the phased start-up of new 230,000 tonne-per-year specialty
polymers facilities that will produce halobutyl rubber and performance
resins for adhesive applications.
The company’s growth in Singapore is driven by the expected increase in
global demand for chemical products over the next decade of nearly 45
percent, or about 4 percent per year, which is a faster pace than energy
demand and economic growth. Nearly three-quarters of the increased
demand is expected to be in Asia Pacific as a result of its rising
prosperity and a growing middle class.