We continue to invest

Strategic investments in our refineries and chemical plants have played a prominent role throughout ExxonMobil's more than 125 years of history in the Benelux. Constantly responding to new (economic and social) developments has enabled us to keep our business operations strong.

• In 2019 the Antwerp Refinery inaugurated a new coker unit for converting heavy, high-sulphur residual oils into transport fuels such as diesel and marine gas oil.
• In 2009, the Antwerp Refinery started operating a high efficiency cogeneration facility, or . This was followed in 2011 by a hydrotreater, which removes sulphur from diesel using high-pressure hydrogen. The resulting lower SOx emissions – combined with increasingly cleaner car engines – have led to a (significant) improvement in air quality.
• In Rotterdam, the refinery is being expanded with a hydrocracker unit to meet the rising market demand. The unit upgrades heavier by-products into cleaner, higher-value finished products, such as base oils for lubricants and ultra-low sulphur diesel.

Recent large-scale investments in the Rotterdam chemical plants included performance improvements in the oxo-alcohol plant in 2016, an innovative system for producing paraxylene in the aromatics plant in 2015 and the major capacity expansion of the aromatics plant in 2009.