ExxonMobil's new Port Allen, Louisiana, Aviation Lubricants Plant recently hosted the BIC Alliance team for a day of education and a tour of the facilities.
"We started production in July of 2016 and reached full capacity, which exceeds our customer demand, by December of last year," boasted Operations Manager Sonny Fourroux. "More importantly, we completed our first year of production without anyone getting hurt in this facility. Each one of our employees and contractors went home every day the same way they arrived. We're very proud of that."
ExxonMobil's fourth-largest lubrication manufacturing plant in the world, the Port Allen Aviation Lubricants Plant consists of a 90,000-square-foot facility that utilizes the latest technology in its manufacturing equipment and houses a workforce of over 200 people.
"Our process starts with receiving around 270 railcars per year of raw material from our Baton Rouge Chemical Plant, where our base stocks are manufactured," explained Fourroux.
Plant Manager Scott Gleason added that the Port Allen site's proximity to the Baton Rouge Chemical Plant made it the ideal location to start-up a lubrication plant. "One of the benefits of being co-located with the complex and the integration we have at the facility is that it gives us a competitive edge," Gleason said. "Both the refinery and chemical plant supply us with the base stocks that we use in the lubricants here.
"Actually, one of the reasons why this location was chosen is that we were able to convert two idle units at our neighboring chemical plant to manufacture the esters used to blend Mobil Jet oil products here. It's critical for us to be integrated here -- all the plants working together in some capacity to provide the consumer products and fuels that we use on a daily basis."
"More than fifty percent of aircraft in operation today use Mobil Jet oils," added Business Support Manager Leah Ritter. "So a lot of great things come right out of Port Allen that many people aren't even aware of."
Another one of the great things that comes out of the plant is a positive economic impact on the Baton Rouge community. "With about 6,000 employees and contractors in the greater Baton Rouge area, we have the opportunity to make a really big impact on the economy," said ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Public and Government Affairs Manager Stephanie Cargile. "If you have a very large rock and you dropped it into a pond, the ripples from that rock would go very far. We like to use that analogy when we explain the ongoing ripple impact that our company can make.
"In West Baton Rouge, we have had the opportunity to contribute to that economic impact most recently with this new facility. It was integrated with our chemical plant, and together they added 45 new permanent jobs with that project.
"When you look at the ripple effect, about one out of every eight jobs in the Baton Rouge area is supported here at ExxonMobil. You guys might have heard about something called 'Growing the Gulf.' That is a theme our company rolled out recently from the chemical side of our business, and because of the low cost of natural gas here in the U.S., we have an opportunity right now to build and invest more in the Gulf Coast area. So one thing we're doing here in Baton Rouge through our company is really trying to bring that investment here."
For more information, visit www.Exxonmobil.com or call (800) 243-9966.
