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ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. at the ExxonMobil Chemical Second Singapore Petrochemical Project Groundbreaking Ceremony
Welcome Remarks by
Mr Kwa Chong Seng, Chairman and Managing Director
ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. at the
ExxonMobil Chemical Second Singapore Petrochemical Project
Groundbreaking Ceremony
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Prime Minister
Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr Iswaran
EDB Assistant Managing Director Ms Aw Kah Peng
JTC Corporation CEO Mrs Ow Foong Pheng
Distinguished Guests, Colleagues
Good Morning.
On behalf of ExxonMobil, I have the great privilege of extending a very warm welcome to our Guest-of-Honour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to this groundbreaking ceremony. I would also like to welcome all our distinguished guests, friends and colleagues, especially those who have travelled far to join us. Thank you for being with us today. I’m happy that Mike Dolan, President of ExxonMobil Chemical and Sherman Glass, Senior Vice President of ExxonMobil Chemical could also join us.
Today marks the official start of construction for ExxonMobil’s second large scale petrochemical project in Singapore. This project is significant to us in a number of ways. It will be one of the largest petrochemical investments we are making in terms of size and scale. The project will be world-scale, and when completed, will produce a million tons of ethylene, 1.3 million tons of polyethylene, 450,000 tons of polypropylene and 300,000 tons of specialty elastomers per year. Together with our existing Singapore Chemical Plant, we will be producing close to two million tons of ethylene per year when the project is completed - almost half of Singapore’s total projected ethylene capacity. By then, Singapore will be well on its way to becoming a global petrochemical hub and we are pleased to be able to contribute towards this vision.
When this plant is completed in 2011, the Singapore complex will be ExxonMobil’s largest owned and operated petrochemical plant. Add to this our 605,000 barrels-per-day refinery, we will have in Singapore the largest integrated manufacturing site within the ExxonMobil circuit. Integration between the chemical plant and refinery is a key competitive advantage for us, as this allows us to capture feedstock, operating and investment synergies.
Singapore is an important location for ExxonMobil. It is the Asia Pacific regional headquarters for our Downstream and Chemical businesses, with about 2,300 people. Apart from the chemical manufacturing and refining operations, we manage the largest network of retail service stations in Singapore. I’m told by EDB that with this project, we will clearly be the single largest foreign manufacturing investor in Singapore.
Throughout our long history of operating here, we have enjoyed a very close, cordial and constructive relationship with Singapore. The foundation of this strong relationship lies in mutual trust and respect. The transparent business-oriented environment and excellent infrastructure which Singapore offers is a huge plus. It is our commitment to and confidence in
Singapore’s long term growth which underlies our decision to build a second multi -billion dollar world-scale petrochemical complex here.
Twenty years ago, this place now called Jurong Island did not even exist. There were seven small islands and I remember well the days in the early 70s, when as a young engineer, I commuted by ferry every day to one of the seven islands, Pulau Ayer Chawan. Today, Jurong Island is bustling with activities and houses over 80 petroleum and petrochemical companies. And it will also be home to ExxonMobil’s largest integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in the world.
Prime Minister, we would like to thank you for your unwavering support. You have attended quite a few project launches in both the heritage Esso and Mobil refineries over the last 20 years. Five years ago, you were kind enough to grace the dedication ceremony of our first petrochemical cracker, and I remember remarking that the then Chairman of EDB Philip Yeo convinced us to commit to build a cracker on land which was underwater. With the same courage and conviction, the EDB and JTC team led by Aw Kah Peng moved the Jurong Island Highway before our planning studies for this project were completed. Indeed EDB and JTC can part waters and move mountains.
The EDB officers are known for their tenacity and persistence. They engage us at many levels, in many locations and at all hours of the day, even in the early hours of the morning. They understood that the new steam cracking train, should it be constructed, needed to be close to and in parallel with our existing chemical plant for efficient integration. Without mutual trust and confidence, this project would not have been possible. I would also like to place on record our sincere appreciation for the strong support of the many other agencies in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and especially to Minister Lim Hng Kiang, who unfortunately could not be here today.
We see this project as a win-win for both ExxonMobil and Singapore. Its world-scale status will help strengthen ExxonMobi l’s supply capabilities to serve the growing needs for petrochemical products in Asia and globally. We are well-positioned to capture this robust demand growth with ExxonMobil Chemical’s global leadership position, operational excellence, customer focus, disciplined investment strategy and innovative technologies. The new Singapore project will employ ExxonMobil’s latest proprietary technologies, and will have the capability to process a broad range of feedstocks and convert them into higher-value products. A specialty elastomers unit, our first such unit in Singapore, will also be built as part of this new project. In addition, the technology to produce high-end petrochemicals and specialty chemicals will be used for the first time by ExxonMobil in Asia.
A key success factor for this new project is people. We are pleased to have a global team of dedicated colleagues and skilled contractors to bring this project to fruition. Currently, there are over 2,200 people on the project team in seven locations. Going forward, we will need to recruit another 400 people to fill the plant and business positions. We expect that at the height of construction, we will require up to 10,000 people. It will take tremendous teamwork to complete this project, and we are confident we will have the talent to see this project through with operational excellence and high safety standards. Safety as always will be our highest priority in this project, and we are fully committed to achieving our goal of “Nobody Gets Hurt”.
Finally, I would like to once again thank Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong for honoring us with his presence here today. To our contractors and colleagues working on this project, thank you too for overcoming the many challenges to move the project forward. We wish you every success as you face new challenges ahead to complete this project which will become the pride of ExxonMobil and Singapore.
Thank you.
