ExxonMobil Chemical Plant In Beaumont, Texas, To Expand

May 6--ExxonMobil Corp.'s Gulf States Road chemical plant is expanding, but company officials were vague about how large the expansion might be or the cost of the investment. The work will enable the Beaumont Chemical Specialty Plant to produce another group of synthetic oil base stocks, said Sue Berniard, a company spokeswoman in Houston. Crude oil is a mass of hydrocarbon atoms linked together in different sizes and shapes. Refining crude, which in this case happens at the adjacent ExxonMobil refinery, involves heating it under pressure until it cracks and separates into sub stocks. Tweaking a cracked oil sub stock at the specialty chemical plant produces polyalphaolefins, nonconventional fluids that flow more easily and are the base of all synthetic oils. Costing about three times more than conventional oils, synthetic oils pay off in the long term. Easier flowing oil reduces friction during engine starts at cold temperatures, extending engine life. Synthetic oils also last longer than conventional oils, reducing the need to change oil. Identified as "GroupIV," Berniard said the new synthetic oil base stock will be available to others to manufacture their own synthetic oils by blending in different additives. Recipes for synthetic oils vary because different grades of synthetic oil basestocks and various types of additives might mix differently, Berniard said. Construction is to start in the final three months of this year. Officials couldn't be more specific. "Right now we're in the design and engineering phase," Berniard explained. ENGlobal Engineering Inc. of Houston is doing that work. Production startup will be in the third quarter of 2005. Neither Berniard nor Kathleen Jackson, a local ExxonMobil spokeswoman, could say who the general contractor might be; how many construction jobs might be created; and if there would be any additional permanent jobs at the plant. ----- To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.southeasttexaslive.com