Exxon 2008 Annual Report Download - page 31

In 2008 we completed construction and successfully started
up several projects that produce lower-sulfur diesel fuel in
Europe and North America. We also announced plans to
invest more than $1 billion in three refineries in Louisiana,
Texas, and Belgium, which will allow us to increase lower-
sulfur diesel fuel production at these sites by approximately
6 million gallons per day. When completed in 2010, this
increased production will be equivalent
to the diesel produced
from about four average-size refineries.
Increasing Margin
Refining & Supply’s margin improvement efforts include
activities in three areas: economically growing production,
reducing raw material costs, and increasing product realizations.
We strive to maximize utilization of our existing refining
capacity through focus on improving reliability, identifying
and eliminating operating constraints, optimizing planned
maintenance and intervals between planned downtimes,
and expanding market outlets.
Through our long-term commitment to proprietary research
and technology, we have developed innovative methods to
reduce raw material costs. For example we have expanded
the application of advanced molecular fingerprinting and
modeling technologies that allow us to more precisely select
and blend crudes with properties that will maximize yields
and margins throughout our operating facilities.
In addition to improving raw material selection, our Molecule
Management technology ensures the highest-value products
are produced. Our processing models enable us to optimize
both the entire manufacturing site as well as individual
process unit operations on a real-time basis to increase the
yields and blending of higher-value products.
Improving Operating Efficiency
The cash operating costs at our refineries worldwide are
substantially below the industry average, as confirmed by
external benchmarking. We achieve industry-leading cost
Along with our partners, ExxonMobil is progressing a joint venture
project in Fujian Province, China, that will expand the size of the
existing refinery from 80 thousand barrels per day to 240 thousand
barrels per day. The new facilities are expected to start up in 2009.
performance by leveraging our scale and integration as well
as our leading-edge technologies to produce numerous
efficiencies. We have been successful in developing energy
and cost efficiencies that partially offset inflation as well as
much of the increased expense associated with operations
improvements and new process units.
Improved energy efficiency is a key contributor to our strong
cost performance and we have consistently outpaced
industry in this area. ExxonMobil’s proprietary Global Energy
Management System (GEMS) focuses on opportunities
that reduce the energy consumed at our refineries and
chemical plants. Savings equal to 15 to 20 percent of the
energy consumed at our manufacturing facilities have been
identified to date using GEMS. Through 2008 we have
captured nearly 60 percent of these savings.
We continue to make significant investments in cogeneration
facilities. In 2008 we started commissioning a 125-megawatt
cogeneration unit at our refinery in Antwerp, Belgium.
Cogeneration requires substantially less energy than traditional
methods of producing steam and power. In addition to
reducing energy consumption, our GEMS improvements
and cogeneration investments reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.
We also capture cost savings through economies of scale.
For example we use shared organizations to support
operations at integrated refining and chemical sites, and
continue to progress our global training initiative to improve
overall workforce productivity. We are also implementing
new maintenance technologies to improve workforce
productivity and reduce costs.
New facilities to reduce diesel sulfur were installed at our Port-Jerome-
Gravenchon refinery in France.
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