ExxonMobil offered a bit more information about plans for its Baton Rouge, La., base oil plant at the Lubricants and Waxes meeting hosted by the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association in Houston last week. Automatic transmission fluid base stock is still the only cut that the company has decided to upgrade but officials said they will consider upgrading more after the first quarter of 2004.
The Baton Rouge plant currently has capacity to produce 16,000 barrels per day of Group I oils. Last summer the company told customers that it planned to upgrade its 1391 ATF base to Group II quality by the second quarter of 2004.
ExxonMobil declined to discuss its plans publicly at that time, but Basestocks Planning Advisor Steven T. Swift confirmed the project Thursday during a presentation at the NPRA meeting. Swift said the upgraded fluid will be named EHC-30 and that the company will produce it to help blenders meet upgraded Dexron and Mercon ATF specifications.
ExxonMobil will manage the base stock upgrade thanks to new generation catalyst technology that it plans to install during a maintenance turnaround scheduled for the first quarter. The company said the technology allows it to upgrade part, but not all, of the plants yield.
The company said it has not yet decided to upgrade any other cuts at Baton Rouge; once it succeeds in commercializing EHC-30, it will investigate opportunities to upgrade other products.
Base oil posted prices in the United States were unchanged this week. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $33.12 per barrel yesterday, up $1.99 from a week earlier.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.