Singapore expansion insider

Published: January 2020

The ExxonMobil team continues to progress refinery expansion projects in Singapore to help improve the quality of EHC™ base stocks in the Asia Pacific region. There are numerous men and women who are giving their all to make both projects a success. Learn from Vipin Rana, Asia Pacific Basestocks and Specialties Sales Manager, as he shares his perspective on the two Singapore base stocks projects and what makes them special.

Q: What’s something particularly challenging about your role, particularly as it relates to the ongoing Singapore expansion project?

This is an exciting yet challenging endeavor for me as it’s the first time I’ve been involved in a refinery expansion project at ExxonMobil. Given this investment significantly upgrades the product specifications and further enhances our ability to reliably supply Group II products (EHC™ 50 and EHC™ 110) in Asia Pacific, there is a tremendous amount of rigor that has gone into the various manufacturing and marketing/sales related decisions that drive the project. While it’s not an easy assignment, it has been tremendously rewarding for me.

Q: Shifting to another Singapore project, how has ExxonMobil’s latest expansion announcement been particularly exciting for you?

In June 2018, ExxonMobil announced it is progressing an additional expansion project at the Singapore Refinery, which, if endorsed, is scheduled to start up in 2023. This one is especially exciting because the investment will help develop and apply new technologies at the refinery, to add a highly efficient, world-scale capacity to produce Group II base stocks including a new, unique high-viscosity Group II base stock.

Q: Why is ExxonMobil committed to increasing reliable supply of Group II in Asia-Pacific?

We believe that the Asia-Pacific region represents an area of tremendous growth, particularly around increasing customer needs for high-quality Group II base stocks. Our expansion projects in Singapore will provide our growing customer base Group II base stocks with broad blending coverage, which can help reduce the need for Group III and enable cost savings.

We also believe these expansions can help make the overall industry more robust – from a product and technological perspective. Together, these investments position ExxonMobil as a leader equipped with the products, technology and manufacturing capabilities to meet a wide range of current and future blender requirements.

Keep up with the latest Singapore refinery expansion updates by visiting our dedicated webpage here.