FEP investment in safe hands
Earlier this month (April) Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) temporarily shut down to begin a £140 million investment project. The man in charge of the project, Maarten ten Doesschate, has already overseen numerous such projects for ExxonMobil around the globe.
This project represents the 14th major investment programme that Maarten has led for the company. He says: “While our operations [at FEP] have always been safe, we know our reliability has not been as good as it can be,” he said. “This has led us to use our flare too often, which we know frustrates our local communities.
“This investment will improve our reliability by overhauling existing equipment, installing thousands of new parts and introducing the latest versions of the technologies available. We have a very skilled and knowledgeable team here at FEP, who will be joined by over 850 specialist contractors. The work has been carefully planned and will be delivered to the highest standard.”
Maarten began his career with ExxonMobil in the Netherlands and has worked with the company for over 35 years in a variety of roles. Among his previous posts were technical and plant manager in Rotterdam, start-up and safety manager in Singapore and investment project manager in Beaumont and Baytown in the USA, and Antwerp in Belgium.
Maarten likens the FEP programme to a major service on your car - but on a much bigger scale. An estimated 300,000 hours of work will be delivered, including the installation of an advanced elevated flare tip, which will reduce noise and vibration during flaring.
Also in this issue
Reflecting on a 42-year career with EM
As Mark Wentworth’s long and notable career at ExxonMobil draws to a close, most recently as the head of the Corporation’s emergency Regional Response Team (RRT) in Europe Africa and the Middle East, Newsline has asked him to reflect on his many experiences. The story begins in 1979, when 16-year-old Mark first joined the company. It was the ‘winter of discontent’, the average house cost £13,650 and ‘Message in a Bottle’ by The Police was riding high in the pop charts.
ExxonMobil Collaborates with Plastic Energy on advanced recycling project in France
ExxonMobil is collaborating with Plastic Energy on an advanced recycling project in France that will convert consumer plastic waste into raw materials for the manufacturing of virgin-quality polymers. The project is expected to be one of the largest advanced recycling plants in Europe, with an initial capacity of 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year.Staying well in times of change
In February and again earlier this month, ExxonMobil employees were invited to join a virtual presentation on mental health and wellbeing led by Dr Sade Adenekan, Lead Occupational Physician and Assistant UK MOH (Medicine & Occupational Health) Manager based at Leatherhead. It was organised in collaboration with the Leatherhead SSHE Committee as part of its Safety Talks Programme and was open to all UK staff.
ExxonMobil and Porsche to test lower-carbon fuel in race conditions
ExxonMobil and Porsche are testing advanced biofuels and renewable, lower-carbon eFuels, as part of a new agreement to find pathways toward potential future consumer adoption. The first iteration of Esso Renewable Racing Fuel is a blend of primarily advanced biofuels specially formulated by ExxonMobil’s in-house team of scientists and engineers. The fuel will be tested in race conditions with Porsche’s high-performance motorsports engines during the 2021 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race series.
Newport launches four-year apprenticeships
Our Newport elastomers plant has launched a maintenance engineering apprenticeship scheme for the first time in its history. Response to the new initiative has been overwhelmingly positive, with more than 275 young people applying for the two roles.
