Infineum invests in Notre Dame de Gravenchon additive plant

Infineum, the additive joint venture between ExxonMobil and Shell, announced the on-site arrival of a third magnesium sulfonate reactor at Port-Jérôme, Notre Dame de Gravenchon, in Normandie, France. The magnesium sulfonate reactor will be installed at a lubricant additive plant operated by ExxonMobil Chemical France on behalf of Infineum.

Located along the Seine, near the platform of Le Havre, the Port-Jérôme integrated chemical platform gathers major industrials of base and specialty chemicals. Thus, it is a major refining and chemical complex in Europe. This area is strategic for the supply chain with direct access to multimodal connections and easy access to utility networks. ExxonMobil refinery has its own petroleum handling and storage facilities. It is the largest integrated platform of ExxonMobil in Europe with a lubricants plant and several petrochemical units.

This important USD40 million investment will add reliability, improve operability, and continue to secure the supply of Infineum additives from this ExxonMobil site, by allowing for continuous production during maintenance operations and improve the availability of the unit. The additional flexibility of this multipurpose reactor will add reliability to the entire process. This will ultimately secure, as well as increase, the production availability of important detergent components for Infineum additive products.

“We are pleased to be increasing reliability, efficiency, and available production capability for Infineum. This significant investment demonstrates Infineum’s strong commitment and confidence in the future on the petrochemical platform of Gravenchon, a key player in the regional industry,” said Hervé Brouhard, chemical site manager.

This fast-tracked project was delivered in about two years and will culminate in the installation of these modular units over the coming weeks, with the units expected to be mechanically complete by year-end and fully approved in the first quarter of 2021.

“Infineum is committed to delivering against our brand aspiration of performance you can rely on. The enhanced capability from this unit, from which the component is deployed in many formulations as a key enabler of performance in latest generation applications, will mean improved supply reliability for Infineum customers,” said Chris Locke, EVP of Supply, Infineum.