Our operations

The office building in Brussels (Machelen) houses ExxonMobil's regional headquarters for Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EMEA) and the European Technology Center for research and development.

The regional headquarters accommodates staff departments and most of the business units of ExxonMobil’s business divisions Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions. They are responsible for coordinating all the business units in the EMEA region and maintain contact with ExxonMobil's other regional headquarters.

European Technology Center

The European Technology Center (ETC) researches applied process and product technology, and pioneers the development of business planning options. The ETC provides technology support for ExxonMobil's Product Solutions’ business and supports advocacy activities in the area of Low Carbon Solutions business. In-depth expertise exist at ETC covering:

• Determining physical properties, chemical composition, molecular structure of chemicals, linking it with the performance of the materials;
• Use of lab and pilot scale equipment for the simulation of production processes that we can upscale for commercial use in our production facilities;
• State-of-the-art apparatus for catalyst development and analysis; supported by a broad range of advanced characterization techniques;
• Equipment for processing polymers on a commercial scale to simulate the use of our polymer products by our customers. This involves, among other things, film blowing, casting and lamination.

The specialists who work at the ETC develop and apply knowledge, and share the results with ExxonMobil business units all over the world so that they can take a leading position in their respective targeted markets.

In 1989, ExxonMobil launched the European Science & Engineering Program (ESEP). The objective of ESEP is to promote scientific interactions between the company and European universities and research institutions.

Address:
ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BV
Hermeslaan 2
1831 Machelen
Tel.: +32 2 239 3111

With ongoing large and small investments, ExxonMobil ensures that the installations on the refinery site remain modern and efficient, and that the refinery retains its competitiveness. Since 2008 alone, two billion dollars have been invested in the refinery – despite the economic downturn – to make it one of the most modern and energy-efficient of its kind.

The refinery processes different grades of crude oil varying from light low-sulphur to heavy high-sulphur oil. The crude oil is supplied via the Rotterdam-Antwerp Pipeline, which is co-owned by ExxonMobil. After arrival, the crude oil is stored in the tank farm in the refinery complex before being processed into a range of products, such as LPG, petrol, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, gas oil, fuel oil and raw materials for the chemical industry. The refinery is integrated with the Performance Intermediates Plant, which produces chemical solvents.

Energy efficient

The refinery's relative energy consumption ranks among the lowest in the oil industry. Since 2009, the refinery has operated a high-efficiency cogeneration unit. With a total power output capacity of 130 Megawatts, the unit produces more electricity than the total requirement of the refinery and our two polymer production plants. The cogen unit not only produces electricity and steam, but also heats approximately 50% of the mineral oil from which the refinery products are made. The smart use of generated heat ensures high energy efficiency and therefore results in a substantial reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Cleaner fuels

Putting the new hydrotreater unit into operation in 2011, enabled the refinery to increase its production capacity for low-sulphur diesel to a level comparable with the annual consumption of two million diesel-powered cars. The unit uses hydrogen at high pressure to remove sulphur from diesel. As a result, the diesel is relatively clean and the emissions are lower. The hydrotreater is also used to produce more low-sulphur domestic heating oil. In 2019 the refinery commissioned a new delayed coker unit (DCU), involving a capital investment of one billion euros. The DCU converts heavy, high-sulphur residual oils into transport fuels such as diesel and marine gas oil.

ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BV

Antwerp Refinery
Polderdijkweg,
2030 Antwerp
Haven 447
Belgium
Tel.: 03 393 5111

Registered office:
Polderdijkweg, 2030 Antwerp
VAT BE 0416.375.270
RPR Antwerp
BoA Antwerp EUR 685-6691011-19

Products: 

• LPG, petrol, naphtha, kerosene, diesel, gas oil, fuel oil, sulphur
• Various raw materials for the chemical industry

The Antwerp Performance Intermediates Plant is one of the largest and most modern plants in Europe that produces liquid hydrocarbons. The plant has been completely integrated with the refinery as part of an initiative to maximize efficiency.

The APIP’s products have a widely-varied range of applications. They form additives in (lubricating) oil and fuel, or solvents in products with all sorts of domestic, industrial and agricultural uses, such as polishes, cosmetics, sealants and glues, car paint and agricultural chemicals.

The product assortment frequently changes in line with the steadily increasing demand for products with specific properties. In close collaboration with the Technology Centre in Brussels, the plant develops new, innovative, high-quality liquid chemicals that improve, for example, health, safety, the environment and comfort.

High-quality drill lubricants

In 2016, the plant put a new fractionation tower into operation, which has increased the production capacity for high-quality drill lubricants. These products are used in oil and gas production to cool the drill bit, to carry bore dust to the surface and to apply back pressure on the rock formation being drilled into. Partly because of their good biodegradability, demand for these user-friendly, low-aromatic liquids is continually rising.

A transhipment terminal for ethylene is also located on the plant's premises. The ethylene is primarily supplied by the ExxonMobil Chemical plant in Fife (Scotland) and is pumped from the storage tank to the ExxonMobil's polyethylene plants in Zwijndrecht and Meerhout.

ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BV

Antwerp Performance Intermediates Plant
Polderdijkweg
2030 Antwerp
Haven 447
Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)3/543.31.11

Registered office:
Polderdijkweg, 2030 Antwerp
VAT BE 0416.375.270
RPR Antwerp
BoA Antwerp EUR 685-6689016-61

Products:

• Isopar, Exxsol, Varsol, Solvesso
• Special products

The polymers plants in Zwijndrecht and Meerhout are in fact complementary. In order to optimize the strengths of both plants, they have been organizationally twinned.

The plant in Zwijndrecht produces low density polyethylene (LDPE). Ethylene gas is converted into polymers in high-pressure reaction vessels. During the polymerisation reaction, ethylene gas molecules bind together to form long chains; as a result, the gas is converted into a solid, plastic.

The plant is a highly flexible production unit and supplies more than a hundred different products to numerous industries that use them to make, for example, laminated paper and cardboard, foil wrapping, food packaging and plastic carrier bags. Polymers from the plant are also processed in, among other things, plastic sheeting used in agriculture, adhesives and golf balls. 

Increasingly more sustainable

In collaboration with the European Technology Centre in Brussels, the two polymers plants work constantly on improving their products to stay abreast of current trends. Packaging foils are becoming increasingly stronger, thinner and more sustainable. For the production of – some ultra-thin – foil less and less material is needed, which has led to reductions in transport operations and waste. High-quality plastic packaging plays an important role in extending the shelf-life of perishable food and preventing spoilage.

ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BV

Antwerp Polymers Plant
Canadastraat 20
2070 Zwijndrecht
Haven 1007
Belgium
Tel.: +32 3 393 41 11

Registered office:
Polderdijkweg, 2030 Antwerp
VAT BE 0416.375.270
RPR Antwerp
BoA Antwerp EUR 685-6689016-61

Products:

• Polyethylene, LDPE and polyethylene co-polymers
• EscoreneTM, EscorenceTM Ultra EVA, Polybilt
• Escor EAA

The Meerhout Polymers Plant is one of the largest LDPE manufacturers in Europe and it supplies products to numerous industries. The plant is organizationally twinned with the Zwijndrecht Polymers Plant, which produces special types of polyethylene in relatively small volumes.

The plant receives its main raw material, ethylene gas, via a pipeline from the storage tank at the refinery complex.

The gas is converted into polyethylene in high-pressure tube reactors. During the production process, the pressure in the reactors can rise up to 3000 bar. The gas is then heated to 200 degrees Celsius. The end product is separated from the non-polymerised ethylene gas at atmospheric pressure. The molten polyethylene is subsequently cooled and exits the process as plastic pellets with a diameter of two millimeters.

The polymers plants' products are used to make, for example, (food) packaging and plastic carrier bags. Because polyethylene is manufactured in a closed system, the production process is fairly environmentally friendly.

Increasingly more sustainable

In collaboration with the European Technology Centre in Brussels, the two polymers plants work constantly on improving their products to stay abreast of current trends. Packaging foils are becoming increasingly stronger, thinner and more sustainable. For the production of – some ultra-thin – foil less and less material is needed, which has led to reductions in transport operations and waste. High-quality plastic packaging plays an important role in extending the shelf-life of perishable food and preventing spoilage.

ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BV

Meerhout Polymers Plant
Biezenhoed 2
2450 Meerhout
Belgium
Tel.: +32 3 393 31 11

Registered office:
Polderdijkweg, 2030 Antwerp
VAT BE 0416.375.270
RPR Antwerp
BoA Antwerp EUR 685-6689016-61

Products:

• Polyethylene, LDPE and polyethylene co-polymers: Escorene™ Ultra EVA