The Singapore Resid Upgrade Project will increase capacity to upgrade bottom-of-the-barrel products into higher-value lubricant base stocks and cleaner fuels. The facility, when completed, will add around 20,000 barrels per day of lubricant base stocks.

The multi-billion dollar project is designed to meet growing demand for high-quality, cleaner fuels and lubricants. The first batch of new reactors for the project were delivered in June, with the longest measuring about 50 metres in length and the heaviest weighing about 1,200 tonnes.

Singapore Manufacturing Capabilities

The upgrade project is slated for start up in 2025.

“We continue to progress the project in collaboration with our suppliers and contractors,” said Khalid Ashraf, venture executive and project director, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. “Even through the pandemic, we successfully completed fabrication of key equipment such as our high-pressure reactors. Our focus remains on completing the facility safely and on time to meet the needs of our customers.”

The Resid Upgrade Project is helping to increase the production of ultra-low sulphur fuels by about 48,000 barrels a day and other lubrication products which will aid the shipping industry in reducing its emissions, in line with the International Maritime Organization lower sulphur requirements.

This expansion will also increase supplies of EHC 50TM and EHC 120TM grade lubricants, and up to 6,000 barrels a day of extra-heavy base stock, including the new Group II base stock, EHC 340 MAXTM.

“ExxonMobil is introducing a unique high-viscosity Group II clear and bright base stock at a large scale,” said Todd Sepulveda, ExxonMobil vice president of Basestocks & Waxes. “We are committed to delivering quality fuels and base stocks for high-performing finished lubricants, as demand for these products in the Asia-Pacific region continues to grow.”

Upgrading Singapore's manufacturing capabilities

The facility upgrade will help the site produce more ultra-low sulphur fuels that will aid the shipping industry in reducing its emissions.

“We will produce EHC 340 MAXTM using proprietary technologies that allow us to manufacture a product with performance attributes that differentiate it from other high-viscosity base stocks.”

The EHC 340 MAXTM base stock complements the viscosity range of existing EHC lubricants and is suitable for lubricants that require extra high viscosity, low temperature performance, high oxidisation stability, and a high flashpoint, which is critical for high temperature applications.

The Singapore Resid Upgrade Project adds to a similar base stocks capacity increase of about 5,000 barrels-a-day at ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam refinery in the Netherlands.

Tags

  • icon/text-size
You May Also Like

Explore More

The Future of Lower-Emission Transportation Fuels
Why we’re investing $15 billion in a lower-carbon future