ExxonMobil to add polypropylene unit at Baton Rouge

ExxonMobil Corp. will build a polypropylene unit at its facility at Baton Rouge that will expand production capacity along the US Gulf Coast by as much as 450,000 tonnes/year.

Construction on the project—which will create as many as 600 jobs during the build and 65 permanent jobs once completed—will begin later this year, with the new unit scheduled to start production by 2021, ExxonMobil said.

The operator also confirmed it has awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the project to Baton Rouge-based Turner Industries Group LLC and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Dallas, both of which will use local workers to design and construct the new unit.

ExxonMobil’s integrated operations in Baton Rouge currently include its 502,000-b/d refinery, as well as chemical, lubricants, and polyethylene plants.

The new Baton Rouge polypropylene unit comes in addition to ExxonMobil’s previously announced plans to invest $20 billion to build and expand manufacturing operations in the USGC region as part of its Growing the Gulf initiative (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2018).

Alongside a new aviation lubricants blending, packaging, and distribution site in the Baton Rouge area, Growing the Gulf projects include refining and chemical expansions at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont and Baytown, Tex., operations (OGJ Online, Feb. 25, 2019; July 26, 2018).

ExxonMobil and SABIC also have created a joint venture to advance development of the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project, a 1.8 million-tpy ethane cracker currently planned for construction in San Patricio County, Tex. (OGJ Online, May 7, 2018).

“Growth in feedstock supply along with the increase in global demand for chemical products continues to drive our strategic investments and expansion along the [USGC],” said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Co.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].