ExxonMobil Considers Polypropylene Production Expansion Along U.S. Gulf Coast

• Facility to manufacture high-performance, lightweight durable plastics
• Final investment decision could come later this year
• Project startup as early as 2021

IRVING, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ExxonMobil
said today it has started detailed engineering work on a potential U.S.
Gulf Coast project to expand polypropylene manufacturing capacity by up
to 450,000 tons a year to meet growing demand for high-performance,
lightweight durable plastics. A final decision on the investment,
anticipated to be several hundred million dollars, is expected later
this year. Facility startup could come as early as 2021.

The new facility will be capable of producing advanced polypropylene
products which can be used in high performance automotive, appliance,
and packaging applications. The potential project will create more than
600 jobs during peak construction and more than 60 permanent jobs when
production starts.

“ExxonMobil is well positioned to take advantage of the growing global
demand for higher-value products, in both North America and the
high-growth Asia Pacific region,” said John Verity, president of
ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “Abundant supplies of domestically produced
oil and natural gas have reduced energy costs and created new sources of
feedstock for U.S. chemical manufacturing. Most of our planned
investment in the Gulf Coast region is focused on supplying emerging
markets like Asia with high-demand products, which ultimately will spur
new economic growth locally.”

These advanced polypropylene materials are key to reducing vehicle
weight, which helps improve fuel efficiency and reduces carbon
emissions. Modern plastics and polymer composites, which can replace
steel in many applications, typically comprise about 50 percent of a new
car’s volume but only 10 percent of its weight.

“Polypropylene delivers performance and sustainability benefits to
produce a wide variety of consumer products,” said Cindy Shulman,
ExxonMobil’s vice president of plastics and resins. “It’s a versatile
material providing high impact resistance and high stiffness to
lightweight applications. It is safe, can be recycled and requires less
energy to produce when compared with other plastics.”

This investment is one of 13 new facilities planned to grow ExxonMobil’s
chemical manufacturing capacity in North America and Asia Pacific by
about 40 percent. These investments, including two world-class steam
crackers in the United States, will enable the company to meet
increasing demand in Asia and other growing markets.

About ExxonMobil

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company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing
energy needs. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading inventory of
resources, is one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum
products and its chemical company is one of the largest in the world.
For more information, visit www.exxonmobil.com
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Cautionary Statement: Statements of future
events or conditions in this release are forward-looking statements.
Actual future results, including project plans, schedules, and
capacities, sales growth, and other business results, could differ
materially due to factors such as changes in prices of oil, gas, or
petrochemicals and other market factors affecting the petrochemical
industry and the supply and demand for our products; the occurrence and
duration of economic recessions; timing of funding decisions and project
construction; unforeseen technical or operating difficulties; legal or
regulatory events; the actions of competitors; and other factors
discussed under the heading Factors Affecting Future Results on the
Investors page of our website at exxonmobil.com.

Contacts

ExxonMobil
Media Relations, 972-460-6007