ExxonMobil to invest $2 billion in Baytown chemical expansion project

ExxonMobil has announced plans to invest $2 billion to expand its Baytown, Texas chemical plant, which will allow the company to enter the linear alpha olefins market.
The expansion, which is expected to start up in 2022, includes a new Vistamaxx performance polymer unit, which produces products that offer higher levels of elasticity, softness and flexibility. The new unit will produce about 400,000 tonnes of Vistamaxx polymers a year.
In addition, ExxonMobil will be able to enter the linear alpha olefins market. The new unit will produce about 350,000 tonnes of linear alpha olefins a year.
The facility is the largest integrated petrochemical complex in the US and is one of the most technologically advanced refining and petrochemical complexes in the world.
Darren w. Woods, ExxonMobil chairman and CEO, says: ‘Our Baytown chemical expansion will put us in a solid position to maximise the value of increased Permian Basin production and will deliver higher demand, higher value products produced at our Gulf Coast refining and chemical facilities.
‘Global demand for chemicals is expected to be greater than energy demand growth and GDP growth over the next 20 years.’