Mobil postpones Singapore cracker

Abstract

In another signal of the severity of the Asian economic crisis, Mobil says it may still build its. $800 million Singapore naphtha cracker—to be integrated with an existing Mobil refinery—but no earlier than 2003, which is at least two years later than originally planned. Explaining why Mobil issued a statement that falls short of affirming that it will actually build this cracker, Mobil spokesman Mike Kimmit says: economic downturn in Southeast Asia has slowed the discussions [with offtakers] somewhat, but we felt it was necessary for us to make our intentions public. Mobil will own 80% of the cracker; the Singapore Economic Development Board will own the other 20%. The cracker will have an annual capacity of 800,000 metric tons of ethylene and 440,000 metric tons of propylene. But whether the project moves forward is contingent on the completion of sales agreements with downstream customers, Mobil says. Kimmit indicated it is unlikely that Mobil ...