Singapore is committed to high-value, low-carbon energy and chemicals manufacturing: DPM Gan

SINGAPORE – Singapore will continue to upgrade its industries, including the energy and chemicals (E&C) sector, to achieve higher-value, lower-carbon and more sustainable manufacturing, even in a challenging global economic environment, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

To achieve this goal, the Government will work with industry leaders and invest in what makes the Republic competitive – its skilled workforce, high-quality infrastructure, pro-business environment, and integration into global flows of energy, goods and talent, DPM Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, said on Dec 16.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of US energy giant

ExxonMobil’s Resid Upgrade Project

– which produces higher-value lubricant base stocks and lower-sulphur fuels – DPM Gan said that within the E&C sector, ExxonMobil is one of Singapore’s “most significant” partners.

The new plant is ExxonMobil’s only facility in the world for now to produce the top-of-the-line new lube base stock called EHC 340 MAX, supplying customers in Asia, Europe and North America.

DPM Gan said: “This occasion marks not only the start of ExxonMobil’s new facility in Singapore, but also an important milestone in the longstanding partnership between Singapore and ExxonMobil, a partnership that has shaped the growth of our energy and chemicals sector.”

The E&C sector is a key pillar of Singapore’s manufacturing base, contributing around a quarter of the Republic’s total manufacturing output. It anchors Singapore within the global fuels and chemicals supply chain, while supporting the Republic’s status as a maritime and aviation hub.

ExxonMobil, which opened its first refinery in Singapore in 1966, now operates an integrated refining and petrochemical complex on Jurong Island and has invested more than $30 billion in fixed asset investments to date.

“This has, in turn, built up production capacity in Singapore; created good jobs, deep and technical capabilities; and nurtured a strong network of suppliers and service providers,” said DPM Gan.

In 2024, the company launched the ExxonMobil-NTU-A*Star Corporate Lab, the first established by an energy major in Singapore, to discover the next frontier of energy innovation by helping researchers develop solutions to lower carbon emissions and improve resource efficiency.

“This did not happen overnight; it is the result of a decades-long partnership, built on trust, conviction and a shared belief that Singapore can be a stable, competitive and forward-looking home for world-scale manufacturing,” DPM Gan added.

Mr Jack Williams, senior vice-president of Exxon Mobil Corporation, said the Singapore Resid project reflects the capabilities that define ExxonMobil – innovation, scale and excellence in execution. “We constantly innovate. We develop and deploy new-to-the-world technologies that unlock or create value that did not exist before,” he said.

ExxonMobil’s innovations span decades, from pioneering early petrol additives such as octane and the first multigrade oil, called Uniflo motor oil, to introducing the world’s first synthetic engine oil, branded as Mobil 1.

Dr M. Stanley Whittingham, a Nobel laureate, worked at ExxonMobil’s Clinton, New Jersey, research lab in the 1970s, where he pioneered the first rechargeable lithium-ion batteries by discovering intercalation – a discovery that laid the groundwork for modern portable electronics and electric vehicles.

DPM Gan said the partnership with ExxonMobil has been tested and strengthened through economic downturns, global financial shocks and industry cycles that have repeatedly challenged E&C players around the world.

Now, E&C companies worldwide are facing a new set of headwinds – pressure on margins from global overcapacity, shifting demand patterns, and transition to a net-zero future that is reshaping what customers, regulators and societies expect of them.

“These are structural shifts that call for adaptation, innovation and a willingness to transform,” he said, adding that Singapore remains “deeply committed to supporting this transformation”.

He said Singapore will continue to foster a stable and trusted operating environment, strengthen the skills of its workforce, and build ecosystems that enable innovation and sustainability. 

With that in mind, Singapore recently outlined a refreshed vision for the future of Jurong Island as a premier hub for specialty chemicals and sustainable materials, and a global test bed for new energies and low-carbon technologies.

“The Singapore Resid Upgrade Facility is a good example of this,” DPM Gan said.

Dedicated residual upgrade units at refineries worldwide convert low-value heavy crude oil’s bottom-of-the-barrel residue into higher-quality lube base stocks and cleaner, ultra-low-sulphur fuels that are more valuable by using complex processes like hydrocracking, hydrotreating and catalytic cracking.

“More fundamentally, this facility signals something larger – that even in a challenging global environment, we can continue to upgrade, innovate and create long-term value,” said DPM Gan.

ExxonMobil’s new facility will strengthen Singapore’s E&C sector by anchoring high-value manufacturing and supporting the shift to specialty and performance products. “This is the kind of investment – forward-looking, capability-enhancing and sustainability-aligned – that will underpin the next phase of growth for the sector,” said DPM Gan.

ExxonMobil said the Resid Upgrade plant will raise its Singapore base stocks production capacity by 20,000 barrels per day (bpd). The higher production will include up to 6,000 bpd of a new-to-industry lubricant base stock for engine oils and greases used in commercial vehicles and industrial sectors.

The plant will also enable the refining complex to increase production of ultra-low-sulphur diesel and products that can also be used for lorries, construction vehicles and power generation turbines.

ExxonMobil is one of Singapore’s oldest and largest investors. It employs about 3,500 people here and its operations create business for about 2,000 other firms – mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. Its regional teams that trade oil and liquefied natural gas, and work on low-carbon solutions, are also based in Singapore.