Hydrogen to play big role in ExxonMobil’s decarbonisation strategy for chemicals – president

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Hydrogen is poised to play a big role in the decarbonisation of ExxonMobil’s chemicals and plastics business with the project at its Baytown, Texas olefins complex taking centre stage, said the head of its chemicals and refining business.

“We are very focused on reducing emissions associated with our operations and we view that as a critical part of being the most responsible operator in all of the value chains we participate in,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions, in an interview with ICIS.

McKee is the winner of the 2023 ICIS CEO of the Year Award, having been selected in a vote by the ICIS Top 40 Power Players – the global leaders driving the greatest positive impact on their companies and the chemical industry.

“We’ve gone to each of our sites, including Baytown, and looked at every source of emissions, and developed emission roadmaps so that we can identify steps we can take to reduce our emissions over time, consistent with our long-term goals,” she added.

ExxonMobil overall aims to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operated assets by 2050.

BLUE HYDROGEN AS CORE COMPETENCY
The company plans to employ hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) – known as blue hydrogen – to slash carbon emissions at its Baytown, Texas olefins complex – one of the largest such sites in the world – by up to 30%.

“The Baytown hydrogen project is a real example of a way to decarbonise. In this case, it’s mostly through fuel switching – from methane to hydrogen,” said McKee.

Instead of using methane (dry natural gas) to fire cracker furnaces – the typical process – ExxonMobil will use hydrogen produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from the process captured and stored.

“It’s an exciting step for us and we do view blue hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration as a real core competency for ExxonMobil,” said McKee.

The project is another example of a benefit from integration – in this case between ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions and the Product Solutions (chemicals and refining) businesses, she pointed out.

ExxonMobil’s planned hydrogen facility would produce up to 1bn cubic feet (bcf) of blue hydrogen. The CCS infrastructure for the project will have the capacity to transport and store up to 10m tonnes/year of CO2.

This would be part of a cross-industry Houston CCS hub with an initial target of capturing and storing 50m tonnes of CO2/year by 2030 and 100m tonnes/year by 2040, enabling other industries to decarbonise as well.

In October, the US announced $7bn in federal funding for seven clean hydrogen hubs around the country, including $1.2bn for one on the US Gulf Coast where ExxonMobil is one of the industrial partners.

CO2 PIPELINE NETWORK
ExxonMobil is building capabilities in CCS with organic investments as well as acquisitions.

On 2 November, the company closed its $4.9bn acquisition of US-based Denbury, an oil and gas producer that also happens to have an extensive CO2 pipeline network.

ExxonMobil now has the largest owned and operated CO2 pipeline network in the US – adding more than 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles of CO2 pipelines in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. It also has access to more than 15 strategically located onshore CO2 storage sites, according to the company.

See the video Q&A with Karen McKee, the 2023 ICIS CEO of the Year, here.

Interview article by Joseph Chang