The first tranche of new diesel from a $1bn (£791m) bolt-on to the UK’s largest oil refinery will be available next year, according to its operator, US oil giant Exxonmobil.
The diesel will be produced at a new facility at the company’s existing Fawley refinery on England’s south coast.
It is the US oil major’s second-biggest oil-processing facility in Europe, capable of processing around 270,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
But the site, named Fast, could also reportedly shift the production balance towards biofuels and chemicals, which is set to be a burgeoning market in the coming years as the appetite for diesel is predicted to slow down.
Part of this proposed buildout will include a hydrotreater to remove impurities from the chemicals produced on-site and a new hydrogen plant within the site.
Nick Bone, head of the site, told Bloomberg last week that “molecular magic” could be created at the facility.
Exxonmobil’s investment also included the expansion of a jet fuel pipeline running from Fawley to its London terminal near Heathrow airport.
The expanded link will allow Exxon to move product, including sustainable aviation fuel, from its facility at Fawley to the airport. Fawley is a hub for hydrocarbon transport and delivery from both Exxon and its peers. Europe’s longest privately-owned jetty is located in the facility.
Provisional government figures show UK diesel imports increased to 30.7m tons last year, up by 3.1m tons from 2019.
By contrast, the UK exported an average of 19m tons of diesel between 2019 and 2023.
The Exxonmobil extension will come online just as other European facilities are set to shut down. Petroineos Grangemouth in Scotland, as well as Shell Plc Rheinland and BP Plc Gelsenkirchen in Germany, are all scheduled to close or repurpose their hydrocrackers in the coming years.