ExxonMobil announced this morning it will move forward with a $240 million investment at its north Baton Rouge refinery to modernize and upgrade the aging facility and enhance its competitiveness.
The suite of projects will improve processing capability, increase flexibility for meeting market demand, advance overall site competitiveness and install technology for an expected 10% reduction of volatile organic compound emissions.
ExxonMobil officials unveiled the proposal in late 2020. Earlier this year, it secured a $20 million,10-year property tax abatement from the state that was considered crucial to the decision to move forward.
The projects will help retain 1,300 existing jobs at the refinery, and ExxonMobil estimates the upgrades will support more than 600 construction jobs on-site over three years. The investment also will provide more than 20 full-time job opportunities for graduates of the North Baton Rouge Industrial Training Initiative, a collaborative program spearheaded by ExxonMobil in 2012 to provide no-cost, fast-tracked industrial craft training for community residents.
