ExxonMobil Mulls New Polypropylene Plant in Gulf Coast
March 20, 2018
Oil and gas firm ExxonMobil recently commenced engineering work on a potential project that would expand its production of polypropylene in the U.S. Gulf Coast region, the Irving, TX-based multinational announced Tuesday.
Company officials said they will make a final decision on whether to invest in the new facility before the end of the year. If the project moves forward, Exxon will invest “several hundred million dollars” in the plant. Slated to open as soon as 2021, the move could expand the firm’s production of polypropylene by some 450,000 tn/yr, according to a company press release.
“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,” John Verity, president of the ExxonMobil Chemical Company, said in a statement. “Abundant supplies of domestically produced oil and natural gas have reduced energy costs and created new sources of feedstock for U.S. chemical manufacturing.”
Verity said the company’s expansion plan in the Gulf Coast is intended to boost Exxon’s ability to supply customers in growing markets like Asia. Polypropylene is increasingly used in plastics and polymer composites that are used in automotive and aerospace applications.
“Polypropylene delivers performance and sustainability benefits to produce a wide variety of consumer products,” ExxonMobil Vice President of Plastics and Resins Cindy Shulman said in the release. “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.”
Exxon said the potential plant in the Gulf Coast would be one of 13 new facilities planned by the company to increase its production of chemicals.
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