ExxonMobil Corp. has let a contract to Fluor Corp. for a series of services related to the operator’s previously announced expansion project to increase production of ultralow-sulfur diesel by nearly 45% at affiliate Esso Petroleum Co. Ltd.’s (EPCL) 270,000-b/d Fawley refinery near Southampton, UK (OGJ Online, Sept. 20, 2018).
Following its completion of front-end engineering design for the expansion—now known as the Fawley Strategy (FAST) project—Fluor will provide engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction on a reimbursable basis for the project, the service provider said.
Specifically, Fluor’s scope of work on the project includes design and construction of a new diesel hydrotreater and steam methane-reforming hydrogen plant as well as modifications to unidentified existing installations at the Fawley site.
With EPCL now granted planning permission from local regulatory authority the New Forest District Council Engineering, Fluor said it is currently leading engineering and procurement for the FAST project out of its Farnborough office in the UK.
Construction activities on the FAST expansion are scheduled to start by yearend.
Fluor disclosed neither a value nor duration of the contract.
The contract award follows ExxonMobil’s April final investment decision to proceed with the more than $1-billion expansion project, which intends to help reduce the need to import diesel into the UK by adding a hydrotreating unit to remove sulfur from fuel, supported by a hydrogen plant that, combined, will also help improve the refinery’s overall energy efficiency (OGJ Online, Apr. 24, 2019).
In addition to logistics improvements, the project will increase ultralow-sulfur diesel production at the site by 38,000 b/d.
Pending regulatory approval, the FAST project is targeted for start-up in 2021.
Situated on the western side of Southampton Water, the Fawley refinery—the UK’s largest—features a mile-long marine terminal that annually handles about 2,000 ship movements and 22 million tonnes of crude and other products.
ExxonMobil previously said the Fawley expansion project comes as part of the company’s broader plans to increase earnings potential of its global downstream business by 2025 (OGJ Online, Oct. 31,2018).
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
