EMEA News
ExxonMobil Shifting Production From HFO Bunkers to Distillate at Antwerp
ExxonMobil [NYSE:XOM]'s plan to install a coker at its refinery in Antwerp, Belgium to shift from fuel oil bunker production to diesel is moving forward, CEO Rex Tillerson told investors on a recent earnings call.
Tillerson said much of the company's downstream investment is going toward shifting from low-value to higher-value oil products.
He said a new desulferisation plant in Saudi Arabia is also nearing completion, following the commissioning of an ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) unit in Singapore.
Tillerson said ExxonMobil is also taking advantage of "unique opportunities" created by new light and heavy crude supplies in North America.
"During the last few years we have expanded our advantaged North American crude runs by 40%, given our installed capacity and feedstock flexibility," he said.
"Our investments in this area continue to be incremental and completed during maintenance turnarounds and which allows to a very rapid startup of these new facilities."
Several companies have been making investments to upgrade their Antwerp refineries in recent years.
