ExxonMobil Chemical will build a metallocene polyalphaolefin synthetic lubricant base stock plant at its Baytown, Texas, complex by 2013, boosting its global PAO capacity by 50,000 metric tons per year.
Engineering, procurement and construction activities have begun for the new facility, which will produce high-viscosity SpectraSyn Elite mPAO.
While declining to disclose the plant constructions projected cost, Habib Quazi, ExxonMobil Chemical vice president, synthetics, told Lube Report, It does represent a relatively large investment for synthetics. I can say that it is in the range of several hundred million dollars.
SpectraSyn Elite mPAO base stocks are manufactured using a proprietary metallocene catalyst process and offer improved performance characteristics compared to conventional PAO, the company claims, enabling finished lubricants with improved shear stability, viscosity index and low-temperature performance. The drive for greater energy efficiency, improved durability and extended drain intervals is creating demand for high-performance lubricants made with advanced synthetic base stocks, said Quazi.
Because the process is proprietary, he declined to talk about operating cost specifics. Whats important to ExxonMobil is to produce the molecules and the high-viscosity base stocks that our customers need, Quazi said. When this project is built, we will have the worlds largest capacity for making high-viscosity PAO, and we believe we will have sufficient capacity to serve our customers need for the rest of the decade.
ExxonMobil Chemical currently has combined PAO capacity of 144,500 tons per year at plants in Beaumont, Texas, and Gravenchon, France.
Rather than build the new plant at either of those sites, Baytowns refining and chemical complex got the nod after a very comprehensive review, because it fit the companys need for availability of feedstock, infrastructure, scale, site integration and logistics. It also satisfied our need to have a business continuity plan in place, in case of a hurricane or other potential disruption to our facility in Beaumont, said Quazi. We wanted to separate our high-viscosity PAO assets from Beaumont as well, he added, recalling how the east Texas plant was walloped by Hurricane Ike in September 2008, and out of commission for months afterwards.
The Baytown complex includes a refinery, two chemical plants, an engineering office and a global technology center. The project will create about 375 jobs during the construction phase. After the plant opens in 2013, some new positions may be required but not a large number because it will be fully integrated with the Baytown complex, Quazi indicated.
In addition, Albemarle Corp. currently makes 15,000 tons per year of high-viscosity mPAO in Pasadena, Texas, under contract to ExxonMobil. Abemarle is an important partner, and the Pasadena asset offers us the flexibility and strategic advantages that we need, he pointed out. Noting that the feedstock, catalyst and processes used in Pasadena are all ExxonMobil technology, and will be matched exactly in Baytown, Quazi said that the output from both plants will be entirely interchangeable, with no difference in performance, so blenders will get consistent supply from both.
According to Quazi, the underlying demand for synthetic lubricants, especially for high-viscosity PAO, can expect to see growth of 6 to 8 percent a year, driven by the need for high-performance lubricants. We believe demand will be quite robust for the foreseeable future.