Exxon Mobil inaugurates Chinese refinery

QUANZHOU, China, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Supermajor Exxon Mobil Corp. and its partners on Wednesday inaugurated the full operation of the first integrated refining and petrochemical facility in China.

Exxon Mobil and its partners in the Fujian provincial government, China's Sinopec and Saudi Aramco inaugurated the Fujian Integrated Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project intended to satisfy growing regional needs for fuels and chemical products, the company said.

The partnership invested more than $4.5 billion into the facility in order to triple the existing refinery capacity to 240,000 barrels of oil per day for transportation fuel and other refined petrochemical products.

"Our participation in this world-class complex illustrates our commitment to the region and to provide our customers with the products they need," said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil.

In addition, the Fujian plant features a 250 MW system that produces electricity as well as heat and steam from waste energy, reducing operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions.