ExxonMobil lets contract for Beaumont refinery expansion

Feb. 25, 2019

ExxonMobil has let a contract to KBR to provide services related to the operator’s recently approved project to expand refining capacity by more than 65% at its 366,000-b/d integrated refining complex in Beaumont, Tex. As part of the contract, KBR will deliver detailed engineering, procurement, and construction services for offsites and interconnecting units included in the expansion project.

ExxonMobil Corp. has let a contract to KBR Inc. to provide services related to the operator’s recently approved project to expand refining capacity by more than 65% at its 366,000-b/d integrated refining complex in Beaumont, Tex. (OGJ Online, Jan. 29, 2019).

As part of the reimbursable contract, KBR will deliver detailed engineering, procurement, and construction services for offsites and interconnecting units included in the expansion project, the service provider said.

KBR disclosed no further details regarding its scope of work under the contract for the proposed project.

This latest contract follows ExxonMobil’s earlier award to TechnipFMC PLC to provide EPC for four new units to be added as part of the project, including an atmospheric pipe still, kerosine hydrotreater, diesel hydrotreater, and benzene recovery unit (OGJ Online, Jan. 31, 2019).

Already under construction, the expansion project will add a third crude unit within the refinery’s existing footprint that will increase light crude refining capacity at the site by 250,000 b/d, supported by increased production in the Permian basin, ExxonMobil said.

Part of the operator’s 10-year, $20-billion “Growing the Gulf” investment initiative, the crude unit is scheduled for startup by 2022.

ExxonMobil previously announced plans to build and expand manufacturing facilities in the US Gulf region as part of its Growing the Gulf initiative. Growing the Gulf projects include expansion of Beaumont’s polyethylene capacity by 65%, a new selective cat-naphtha hydrofining (SCANfining) unit to increase production of ultralow-sulfur fuels by 45,000 b/d at Beaumont, and a new 1.5 million-tonne/year ethane cracker at the company’s integrated chemical and refining complex in Baytown, Tex. (OGJ Online, July 26, 2018).

ExxonMobil and SABIC have also created a new 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).

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].