Exxon Declares Completion Of Two Polyethylene Lines In Texas

ExxonMobil Corporation’s (NYSE:XOM) subsidiary company, ExxonMobil Chemical Company announced the mechanical completion of two new 650,000 tons per year high performance polyethylene lines at its plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, TX.

The company anticipates production to commence during the third quarter of 2017.

The project forms part of the ExxonMobil’s $20 billion Growing the Gulf expansion initiative and is also part of multi-billion dollar expansion project in the Baytown area. It is one of the 11 projects the company announced as part of its 10-year initiative in the Baytown expansion. Projects planned or under way are expected to create over 35,000 construction jobs and in excess 12,000 full-time jobs.

The polyethylene lines will process ethylene feedstock from the new steam cracker currently under construction at the Baytown complex.

This project facilitates ExxonMobil Chemical to economically deliver a rapidly growing demand for high-value polyethylene products. These high-performance products provide sustainability benefits such as lighter packaging weight, lower energy consumption and reduced emissions. The finished polyethylene product will be distributed to customers worldwide.

ExxonMobil has the first mover advantage by completing the polyethylene project that is driven by the shale gas revolution. The project is expected to double the plant’s production capacity. ExxonMobil’s investments are likely to fuel economic growth and create jobs along with expansion of existing refining and chemical capacity.

However, ExxonMobil’s share price chart is unimpressive. Shares of the company have gained 1.5% in the last three months, while the Zacks categorized Oil & Gas – International Integrated industry registered an increase of 2.6%.

ExxonMobil currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same space include SunCoke Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SXC) , Exterran Corp. (NYSE:EXTN) and Canadian Natural Resources Limited Ltd. (TO:CNQ) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SunCoke Energy posted a positive earnings surprise of 120.0% in the preceding quarter. The company beat estimates in two of the four trailing quarters with average negative earnings surprise of 35.78%.

Exterran posted a positive earnings surprise of 123.21% in the year-ago quarter.

Canadian Natural Resources posted a positive earnings surprise of 30.77% in the preceding quarter. It surpassed estimates in two of the four trailing quarters with average negative earnings surprise of 275.46%.

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