Marine fuel drives ExxonMobil European refinery investment
A substantial investment in a Norway refinery following reduction in allowed sulphur content in marine fuel
ExxonMobil gave the go-ahead for a substantial investment at its Slagen, Norway, refinery in September, just two months after it said it would spend more than $1 billion at its Antwerp, Belgium, facility. Behind both investments is the sharp reduction, taking effect in January next year, in the allowed sulphur content of marine fuel oil used in the world’s control areas. The company is to construct a residue flash-tower - a vacuum distillation unit - at Slagen to extract vacuum gasoil from the refinery’s heavy fuel oil stream. The vacuum gasoil will in turn be upgraded into road diesel or marine fuels, while the remaining heavy fuel oil will be sent to the existing Visbreaker for upgrading i
Also in this section
19 January 2026
Newfound optimism is emerging that a dormant exploration frontier could become a strategic energy play and—whisper it quietly—Europe’s next offshore opportunity
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
