Inside Papua New Guinea - ExxonMobil

An ExxonMobil publication
Inside Papua New Guinea
ExxonMobil’s heritage of integrity
Unlocking the subsalt
PLUS
Whale of a tale
Singapore milestone
A historic agreement
1
2011 – Number 2

1
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In this issue
Inside Papua
New Guinea
Companies progress
huge gas project
23 9 5
17
Rex W. Tillerson
Chairman and CEO
Mark W. Albers
Senior Vice President
Michael J. Dolan
Senior Vice President
Donald D. Humphreys
Senior Vice President
Andrew P. Swiger
Senior Vice President
Kenneth P. Cohen
Vice President-Public and Government Affairs
David S. Rosenthal
Vice President-Investor Relations and Secretary
Bob Davis
Editor
Pat Gabriel
GCG
Art Director
Len Shelton
Photography Coordinator
Cynthia Solomon
Production and Distribution Coordinator
Please address all Lamp correspondence,
including requests to reproduce any portion
of the magazine, to the editor at Exxon Mobil
Corporation, 5959 Las Colinas Blvd., Irving,
TX 75039-2298.
3
Heritage of integrity
Chairman, senior executives
share their views
5
Secrets of the subsalt
How technology is adding to
U.S. energy supplies
9
Life-long learner
The diverse career of
scientist Jeff Beck
Upfront
In the rugged mountains and
jungles of Papua New Guinea,
ExxonMobil and its joint-venture
partners are building a liquefied
natural gas project that will
provide energy to Asia Pacific,
where energy demand is rising
faster than anywhere in the world.
The project is expected to
produce more than 9 trillion cubic
feet of natural gas during its
30-year life. Three photographers
traveled to the country to capture
the amazing pictures in our cover
story beginning on page 17.
This summer, ExxonMobil
and Rosneft signed a strategic
cooperation agreement
for exploration, technology
exchange and joint projects
13
A first for Nigeria
Building local sources for
energy companies
15
A historic agreement
ExxonMobil and Rosneft team up
in Russia and in the United States
17
New energy for Asia Pacific
A huge project takes shape in
Papua New Guinea
in Russia and in the United
States. The historic pact includes
searching for oil and gas in some
of the most promising and least
explored areas in the world. The
article starts on page 15.
Beginning on page 9 is the story
of ExxonMobil scientist Jeff Beck.
His career has included developing
new chemical catalysts,
improving refinery processes,
directing research activities and
negotiating a biofuels venture as
well as managing our worldwide
polyethylene business. With more
than 60 patents to his name,
Beck embodies how ExxonMobil
provides its employees with
diverse career opportunities.
ExxonMobil’s discovery of an
23
Can-do spirit in Singapore
Keeping a competitive edge
25
Champions test skills
Top drivers trade places
at Mobil 1 event
29
Whale of a tale
Marine research offshore
Sakhalin and beyond
estimated 700 million equivalent
barrels of oil and gas in 7,000
feet of water 250 miles southwest
of New Orleans was not easy.
Company geoscientists used
cutting-edge technology to “see”
what couldn’t be seen before.
Read how it was done beginning
on page 5.
Plus, a first for Nigeria (page
13) and a Mobil 1 event that
tested the skills of two champion
race car drivers (page 25).
We hope you enjoy this issue
of The Lamp.
Bob Davis
Editor
31
Legacy of innovation
The many forms of butyl rubber
33
Panorama
Business highlights
from around the world
2

ExxonMobil’s heritage of integrity
Three perspectives, one conclusion:
Ethical behavior matters
For over a century, ExxonMobil
has managed its business with
the conviction that the company’s
most important assets are its
people and their reputation for
scrupulous conduct. Rex W.
Tillerson, chairman and CEO, and
Senior Vice Presidents Mike Dolan
and Mark Albers share their views
about the paramount importance
of ethical behavior in achieving
business success.
Ethics and society
In May, ExxonMobil Chairman
and CEO Rex Tillerson told
the 2011 graduating class of
Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic
Institute that they would need
more than vision, ingenuity and
skills as they took their place in a
rapidly changing world.
3
“Your contributions to society,”
he said, “depend on a firm ethical
foundation of personal and
professional integrity.”
Tillerson pointed to the damage
caused in recent years by financial
scandals and unethical behavior
in business and government.
“The damage strikes at the
heart of a free society,” he said.
“It undermines the trust in the
overwhelming majority of businesses
and entrepreneurs who
live and compete by the rules.”
Tillerson stressed that companies
with a core value of integrity
are also more competitive.
“It makes us more responsible
because it reminds us that our
actions and decisions have implications
for our families, communities
and nation,” he said. “And
Story by Bill Corporon Photography by Robert Seale
it makes us more courageous
because it allows us to stand
firm with our principles – even
if, at times, it means we must
stand alone.”
Integrity is as essential in the
public arena as it is in the workplace,
said Tillerson. Worldwide,
people and their governments
are debating policies that will
govern the energy industry’s
research and investments as well
as the world’s economic health.
“In these debates,” Tillerson
said, “you stand between the
public policymakers and the public
itself. Your voice will be needed
to separate scientific fact from
science fiction and economic
realities from wishful thinking.”
Tillerson said that ethical leadership
in a wide range of fields is
essential to ensuring the integrity
of the scientific process.
“Whether it is in business operations,
technical challenges or in
ethical questions, integrity is a commitment
to do the right things, the
right way, every time – whether or
not anyone is looking.”
The enduring need
for integrity
Senior Vice President Mike Dolan,
in delivering the Silas Lecture at
Georgia Tech University, said that
while the world has changed significantly
over the decades, “the relationship
between ethical leadership,
a corporation’s culture and longterm
engineering success has not.”
As the energy industry strives
to meet rising energy demand,
oil and natural gas companies

must manage a multitude of
risks – financial, technological,
operational, geopolitical and environmental.
For ExxonMobil, said
Dolan, “sound engineering must
take into account effective risk
management, and the best way
to ensure that is to build a corporate
culture that supports ethical
leadership.”
Dolan said that ExxonMobil’s
commitment to business principles
is part of its business model.
“Central to this commitment is
the global use of our Operations
Integrity Management System,”
he said. “This provides a structured
approach for assessing
safety, security, health and environmental
risks, establishing procedures
for mitigating concerns,
monitoring conformance with
standards and reporting results
to management.”
ExxonMobil’s belief in ethical
leadership is also demonstrated
in its support for economic
development and its commitment
to human rights.
“We understand that our longterm
success is strengthened by
economic and social progress,”
Dolan said. “We believe that
practicing ethical leadership is
not only the right thing to do,
but also the best thing to do to
achieve long-term, sustainable
business success.”
Ethics in engineering
Senior Vice President Mark
Albers shared his perspective on
ethics with the graduating class
of Texas A&M University at Qatar
earlier this year.
“As scientists and engineers,
we must face the reality that we
shoulder many of modern society’s
hopes and dreams,” he said.
“Our work and our achievements
make it possible for people the
world over to lead safe, healthy,
productive and meaningful lives.
Because of the important role we
play, we have a special responsibility
to uphold the highest standards
of integrity.”
Albers cited three areas in
which integrity is essential:
“Operational integrity, which
means doing things the right
way. Technical integrity, which
protects the research and development
process, drives accountability
and strengthens our focus
on science-based solutions.
Exxon Mobil Corporation headquarters, Irving, Texas.
And personal integrity as a key
element in building trust, which
strengthens our ability to work as
a team, makes it possible to build
lasting partnerships and improves
the effectiveness of our entire
organization.”
Albers encouraged students to
seek out employers that set “high
standards for personal conduct
and reward ethical leadership.”
“Identify mentors who exemplify
proper behavior, and learn
from them,” he said. “See how
they deal with others. Study how
they make decisions.”
The world faces unlimited possibilities
in what can be achieved
in the years to come, Albers said,
“if we act with integrity and focus
on doing what is right versus
what is easy.” the Lamp
4

5
Unlocking the secrets
of the U.S. subsalt
Story by Mike Long
ExxonMobil geoscientists use advanced technology
to find significant oil and gas resources in the Gulf
of Mexico. Their work could prove highly beneficial
in adding to future U.S. energy supplies.

An ExxonMobil exploration effort
more than a decade in the making
yielded oil and natural-gas
discoveries that together represent
one of the largest finds
in the Gulf of Mexico since the
late 1990s. It also strengthened
hope that the Gulf still has major
potential to supply future U.S.
energy needs.
The combined resources from
two major oil fields and a gas field
discovered 250 miles southwest
of New Orleans total more than
700 million oil-equivalent barrels
on ExxonMobil-interest leases.
Development of the
ExxonMobil-operated Hadrian
North oil field and Hadrian South
gas field in about 7,000 feet
of water will set a deepwater
record for ExxonMobil.
Initial production from the
Lucius oil field and Hadrian
South is expected in 2014.
The Lucius reservoirs, which
extend into adjoining blocks operated
by Anadarko Petroleum
Corp., are planned to be developed
under a unitization agreement
between ExxonMobil,
Anadarko, Plains Exploration &
Production Company, Apache
Deepwater LLC, Petrobras
America Inc. and Eni Petroleum
US LLC. Gas production from
Hadrian South is planned to be
transported by pipeline to the
Lucius production facility under
a separate production-handling
agreement. Both agreements will
help speed production startup
and lower costs.
As development moves forward,
the discovery of the Hadrian
fields is primarily a story of how
ExxonMobil geoscientists working
at the leading edges of exploration
technology were able to “see”
what couldn’t be seen before.
The subsalt puzzle
The discoveries are in the Gulf’s
ultra-deepwater subsalt play – an
area extending west to east some
250 miles and located about 270
miles off the Texas and Louisiana
shores in water 5,000 to 10,000
feet deep. Below the seafloor,
and extending across much of
the play, are sections of salt up to
10,000 feet thick.
Some 170 million years ago,
this salt was initially deposited
as a near-continuous layer.
Over millions of years, sediments
deposited onto the salt
forced it into a variety of shapes,
some near-vertical and others
more lateral. The natural forces
pinched off some areas, creating
salt canopies that now overlie
thick sedimentary sections.
Drilling in shallower waters in
the 1980s and 1990s revealed
the presence of potential hydro-
Texas
ExxonMobil Exploration’s
(from left) Ricardo Livieres,
John Emerick and Nick Way
were part of the Hadrianarea
exploration team.
While more than 50,000 wells
have been drilled in the Gulf
of Mexico, the amount of
undrilled acreage in the subsalt
trend is substantial.
Louisiana
Subsalt trend Wells drilled
Gulf of Mexico
6

carbon-bearing reservoirs below
these displaced salt features.
However, the imaging technology
allowing geoscientists to plan
exploration wells to determine the
commercial potential of subsalt
prospects was still in very early
development.
A faint bump
That didn’t stop ExxonMobil
seismic interpreter Flip Koch from
putting pencil to paper to analyze
newly acquired seismic data prior
to a 1999 Gulf lease sale.
Koch detected a structure
beneath the subsalt that
appeared as a faint “bump” on
several seismic lines in an unexplored
area that possibly others
had not detected. As it turned
out, ExxonMobil was the only
7
company to bid on the Keathley
Canyon blocks that would eventually
yield hundreds of millions of
barrels of oil.
Ricardo Livieres played a key
role on the technical team that
followed up Koch’s work to confirm
that the Hadrian blocks represented
a “good neighborhood”
for oil and gas exploration.
“We learned that a strong system
was present for generating
hydrocarbons, a number of reservoirs
were available to explore
and that the structure covered a
large area,” says Livieres. “But you
never know for sure until you drill.”
Hadrian-1, drilled in 2004-
2005 to a total depth of 27,973
feet, proved dry in the deep
objective. However, hydrocarbon-bearing
reservoirs were
Adrian Foster (left), Stephen Welch (center) and Dennis Brock
review how to apply learnings from the Hadrian-area discoveries
to future exploration and development in the subsalt trend.
found in the shallower formations
at about 20,000 feet.
“After that first well, we knew
we had hydrocarbons present,
so we focused our technical
work to understand where they
went and where we should drill
next,” says Nick Way, exploration
project manager.
Where’s the salt?
Expanding on some basic geotechnical
observations, Livieres
began projecting out the small
oil accumulations detected in
Hadrian-1. The company also
stepped up seismic-processing
efforts to better understand the
geometry of the overlying salt.
“If you can figure out where
the salt is, you have a much
better chance of developing a
clearer image of what’s below
it,” says John Emerick, exploration
supervisor. “Trouble is, salt
significantly distorts seismic
reflections. It can require a year
or more of processing and interpreting
the data to obtain an
improved image.”
Dennis Brock, current exploration
team lead, adds that the
image distortion caused by the
subsalt is like viewing a pencil in
a glass of water.
“The bottom looks bent, but
you know the pencil extends
straight down through the water.
When we attempt interpretations
around the salt, what we see
is that bent image. Things are
not where they should be, plus
they’re fuzzy.”
Good news came in 2008,

when the team’s analysis led to
the drilling of Hadrian-2 and the
discovery of gas and heavy oil.
That work also paved the way
for drilling Hadrian-3 in 2009, a
well that discovered thick reservoirs
filled mostly with oil.
On the cutting edge
As plans progressed for drilling
Hadrian-5, advances in threedimensional
seismic surveys had
vastly increased the volume of
data available for seismic interpreters.
The explorers took these
data and used new high-speed
computers and proprietary seismic-processing
tools to generate
a much-improved image of the
deep, subsalt geology.
“We were applying cuttingedge
technology that had never
been fully vetted in the subsalt,”
says interpreter Stephen Welch.
“We were pushing the limits of
how fast you could apply these
interpretation techniques. But it
led to images that were superior
to anything we could have seen
just three years before.”
Overcoming
moratorium delays
Only two days before
ExxonMobil was to begin
drilling Hadrian-5, the then-
U.S. Minerals Management
Service (MMS), now known as
the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management, Regulation and
Enforcement (BOEMRE), suspended
Gulf operations following
the BP Macondo incident.
Late in 2010, with the drilling
moratorium lifted and ExxonMobil
required to secure new drilling
permits, the company assembled
a cross-functional team from
Exploration, Drilling, Land,
Regulatory, Law, and Public &
Government Affairs to work with
BOEMRE to get the well reapproved.
The team’s effectiveness
paid off, and Hadrian-5 was the
first new-drill well that BOEMRE
approved after it lifted the moratorium
in March 2011. Only four
days after the permit was issued,
drilling began. Three months
later, the well confirmed a major
oil accumulation that would form
part of the Lucius field.
Continuing Gulf focus
With the Hadrian-area discoveries
moving into development,
exploration activity will continue
in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Our Gulf exploration team
will continue looking at prospects
along the subsalt trend,”
says Adrian Foster, exploration
manager. “We hold a substantial
acreage position, and we intend
to maintain a very active exploration
program in the Gulf.”
From an energy-security
standpoint, Foster notes that the
Gulf also offers an attractive location
to bring reliable and needed
energy supplies to U.S. markets.
“The Gulf will continue to
deliver large discoveries, and we
look forward to continued success
there.” the Lamp
Upside down in the subsalt
Drilling Manager Mark Moyer has experienced just about
every kind of downhole environment possible in managing
engineering and operations for ExxonMobil wells
around the world.
Few have proved as complex as the Gulf’s ultra-deepwater
subsalt play, says Moyer.
“Rock formations are normally older the deeper you
drill. With salt movement, however, things can get turned
upside down. For instance, in one well, we encountered
an unusually thick section of older rock above salt and
then found younger rock below it.
“Generally, the older the rock, the harder the rock. Our
drilling slowed to about 3 to 5 feet an hour through this
thick older section versus an average of 50 feet an hour
in the rest of the well.”
Very hard rock can also cause vibrations in the drill string,
which is filled with expensive electronic equipment to measure
downhole conditions and rock properties, he says.
“To avoid equipment damage, we applied the latest
model of ExxonMobil’s vibration-analysis software.
An ExxonMobil Upstream Research scientist was also
onboard the rig to make adjustments as needed to provide
the smoothest drilling possible.
“Despite the subsalt’s complexity and unpredictability,
we handled the challenges effectively and reduced both
drilling time and costs without compromising safety. Plus,
ExxonMobil made a significant discovery. What could be
better than that?”
ExxonMobil contracted
the leading-edge Maersk
Developer semi-submersible
to drill the Hadrian-5 well.
8

Life-long learner discovers
wealth of opportunities
Neil Armstrong’s walk
on the moon made a big
impression on Beck.
9 Story by Tracy Torma Photography by Janice Rubin
Photo Corbis Corporation
Jeff Beck has been interested in
science his entire life. The spark
began when he experienced the
futuristic exhibits in the Hall of
Science pavilion built for the 1964
World’s Fair in his neighborhood
of Flushing, Queens, New York.
“It was way beyond its time,
and featured new products and
new possibilities for the way
we could live in the future,” he
remembers.
His interest was fueled when
he witnessed the first moon
landing on TV in 1969. His high
ExxonMobil scientist Jeff Beck says his interest
in science at an early age led to a life-long quest
for learning. Today, the corporation’s most recent
inductee into the National Academy of Engineering,
and holder of more than 60 patents, is still identifying
new things to contribute to the company’s success.
school yearbook’s prediction
that he would earn a Ph.D. in
chemistry came true in 1989
when he graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania with a
doctorate in inorganic chemistry.
At the time, the oil and gas
industry was rebounding from a
downturn, and Beck found an
opportunity at Mobil to fulfill his
dream of becoming a researcher.
His new job was at the company’s
state-of-the-art laboratory
in Princeton, New Jersey.
What began as a narrowly
focused role in research broadened
into a multifaceted career
that provided Beck with opportunities
to use his scientific background
to help the company
address complex energy needs.
The early days
As a young research chemist at
Mobil, Beck recalls: “Free thinking
led to new ideas, and we’d
go into the lab and try them out.”
He became involved in two
significant discoveries, not only
for Mobil and the energy indus-

Much of Jeff Beck’s career has been spent researching
and developing complex catalysts (like the one shown in
the rendering above) that improve chemical processes.
try, but also for the advancement
of basic science. In the
early 1990s, he was a key member
of a team that discovered a
technology patented by Mobil
that opened up a whole new
field of molecular chemistry.
In the mid-1990s, he and his
team created the PxMax and
XyMax catalysts for selective
production of paraxylene, a key
building block in the production
of polyester fiber. Both technologies
are now commercialized in
33 ExxonMobil facilities and other
licensee locations operating or
under construction worldwide.
His work to scale up the paraxylene
catalysts for commercial
applications exposed Beck to
the scope of the industry and
the opportunities ExxonMobil
afforded beyond simply research.
“It made me realize how
robust scientific ideas have to be
in order for them to be commercialized,”
he says.
Above: Jeff Beck’s passion
for science began when he
attended the 1964 World’s Fair
in New York and visited many
of the exposition’s futuristic
exhibits. At right, Beck’s
picture from his high school
yearbook, where he stated his
goal was “to go to college and
attain a Ph.D. in chemistry.”
Photo Corbis Corporation
10

The 1964 World’s Fair in New York is
best remembered as a showcase of
mid-20th-century American culture
and technology. Fifty-one million
people visited it during its two-year
run, touring major exhibits by IBM,
DuPont and Westinghouse.
Cooperative learning
In 1996, Beck led a team in the
development of new petrochemical
technologies at Mobil laboratories
in Paulsboro, New Jersey.
“I learned how catalysts are
applied in refining and petrochemical
processes, and how
engineers design equipment to
optimize their effects,” he says.
“We brought together scientific
and engineering perspectives. It
became clear how scientists work
to create better routes to impor-
11
“ Throughout my career, I learned from
colleagues who are the best in the business
– and that has made all the difference.”
tant molecules or make new ones
the world has never seen before.
Engineers look at a piece of science
and technology and make it
work on a practical basis.”
Shortly thereafter, Beck transferred
to Mobil’s Engineering
Department, where he got his
first direct exposure to refining
processes and operations.
When Exxon and Mobil
merged in 1999, he became
director of the Catalyst
Technology Laboratory for the
Photo Corbis Corporation
Jeff Beck on the caliber of ExxonMobil people
Long legacy
Jeff Beck is ExxonMobil’s most recent inductee
into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE),
one of the highest professional distinctions
accorded an engineer.
Founded in 1964, the NAE is a private, independent,
nonprofit institution that provides engineering
leadership for U.S. research. Its mission is to
promote the technological welfare of the nation by
tapping into the expertise and insights of eminent
members of the engineering community. In addition
to its role as advisor to the federal government,
the NAE also conducts independent studies
to examine important topics in engineering and
technology.
The rigorous selection process seeks to identify
individuals who have distinguished themselves
as business and academic managers, as technical
experts, as university faculty and as leaders in
government and private engineering organizations.
new ExxonMobil Research and
Engineering Company in Clinton,
New Jersey. There, he studied
ways to utilize the catalyst technologies
of the two companies
to address ExxonMobil refining
and petrochemical products’
manufacturing needs. Soon after,
Beck would find himself doing
something entirely different when
he was asked to serve as technical
manager for the company’s
refinery in Baytown, Texas.
Responsible for daily techni-
cal support of all processes at
the biggest refinery in the United
States, he learned a new side of
the business and gained greater
insight into why ExxonMobil provides
its employees with a broad
range of career experiences.
“If you’re going to manage
large groups of people, you
need to understand how different
individuals think and solve
problems,” he says.

The following ExxonMobil employees
have been inducted into the NAE:
Jeff Beck – 2011, for discovery and
commercialization of selective, environmentally
beneficial catalytic routes to
major petrochemicals, and for leadership
in industrial engineering.
Amos Avidan – 2009, for contributions
to the understanding, scale-up
and commercialization of fluid-bed reactors,
liquefied natural gas facilities and
gasification plants.
Andrew Jackson – 2009, for contributions
to tribology and research in
elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication, fatigue,
machine efficiency, automotive emissions
and synthetic lubricants.
Enrique Iglesia – 2008, for outstanding
contributions to the understanding
of catalyst structure-function
relationships and the development of
novel catalysts and for leadership in
the field of catalysis.
Shun Chong Fung – 2007, for the
investigation of factors underlying the
deactivation and reactivation of catalysts,
and for the application of the findings
in commercial practice.
Charles Kresge – 2007, for contributions
to the rational design and
engineering of mesoporous inorganic
materials.
Steve Jaffe – 2006, for the development
of computer models describing
complex petroleum processing chemistry
and kinetics, and for contributions to
the optimization of refining operations.
Dream job
After two years in Texas, Beck
landed his dream job back in
New Jersey as manager of
ExxonMobil Corporate Strategic
Research, where he directed the
technical efforts of more than
250 scientists, engineers and
technicians in all areas of petroleum
and petrochemical science.
“It was like running a science
institute,” he says. “In addition to
working with the chemical, refining
and upstream groups, we
Frederick Krambeck – 1999, for
advancing the theory of complex reacting
mixtures, and for applying chemical
reaction engineering principles to the
design of commercial processes.
Lee Raymond – 1999, for keeping
a major oil company at the forefront of
exploration and production technology.
James Katzer – 1998, for research
on catalysis and reaction engineering,
and for leadership in commercializing
catalytic processes.
Arnold Stancell – 1997, for petrochemcial
research and development,
and for management of oil and gas
resources.
Michael Ramage – 1996, for contributions
to chemical reactor engineering,
and for engineering leadership.
Nai Chen – 1990, for discovery of
commercially important shape-selective
catalytic processes for producing premium
fuels and lubricants.
James Mathis – 1990, for outstanding
research management in the
petroleum industry, and for application
of chemical technology to the public
welfare.
Richard Tucker – 1987, for fostering
an atmosphere for integrating research
and engineering with innovation, and
for pioneering macro-engineering technologies
in the petroleum and chemical
areas.
also worked with the corporation
on alternative energy solutions.”
While there, Beck led a team
that negotiated ExxonMobil’s
$600 million research collaboration
with Synthetic Genomics,
Inc. in algae-based biofuels, and
managed several other efforts in
alternative energy, and in carbon
capture and storage.
Opportunity came knocking
again in 2010, when he
was appointed global polyethylene
marketing manager for
John Wise – 1986, for inspiring technical
contributions and leadership in the
development and commercialization of
important petroleum, petrochemical and
synthetic fuels processes.
Vern Weekman Jr. – 1985, for pioneering
contributions in applying theory
to practice, and for combining technological
achievement with engineering
education.
Seymour Meisel – 1981, for integrating
basic exploratory research and
process-engineering developments
leading to successful commercialization
of important new technology.
James Wei – 1978, for advancement
of chemical engineering by mathematical
analysis of complex reaction of such
analysis to commercial processes.
Lawrence Swabb – 1977, for
leadership in synthetic fuels research,
particularly in the development of the
hydroforming process for hydrocarbon
conversion.
Paul Weisz – 1977, for contributions
in pioneering the use of molecular
sieves as cracking catalysts for petroleum
hydrocarbons.
John Sinfelt – 1975, for contributions
in catalysis by metals and bi-functional
catalysis, and especially for the concept
of polymetallic-cluster catalysts.
Harold Fisher – 1969, for advances
in research, engineering and management
in the petroleum industry.
ExxonMobil Chemical Company
in Houston. “This is perhaps
the most different of my jobs,”
he notes. “It involves customer
relationships and understanding
market dynamics for products.
It’s pure business, but the business
is based on technology,
and I’m finding a way to use my
technical expertise to enhance
my impact in the job.”
He advises new graduates
just beginning careers in science
and technology to be open to
new opportunities.
“Begin by being the best
scientist or engineer you can
be,” he says. “Then learn how
the world has been changed by
science and engineering. You
may just find out that you want
to learn more about that part of
it as well. You may even end up
just like a kid from Queens trying
to solve the world’s toughest
energy problems.” the Lamp
12

When a pipeline contractor
working for Mobil Producing
Nigeria (MPN), an Exxon Mobil
Corporation affiliate, installed
2,000 tons of specialized pipelines
in the Edop-Idoho field
offshore Akwa Ibom State, it
caused quite a stir within the
country’s oil and natural gas
industry – and with good reason.
The 24-inch-diameter pipes,
manufactured by SCC Mills
Abuja and coated by Adamac
Pipes Coating and Services
Limited, represented the first time
that the industry used made-in-
Nigeria pipes in an offshore oil
and gas installation here.
Such a feat would have been
unheard of as little as five years
ago. But the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation encouraged
companies, whenever
13
First made-in-Nigeria pipe
breaks new ground
Story by Ozemoya Okordion
Program encourages continuing investments
in local engineering and fabrication yards.
Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Executive Vice Chairman Cyril Odu (left) and Ernest
Nwapa, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board,
discuss the progress that has been made in local content development in Nigeria by MPN.
possible, to use pipelines manufactured
in-country for local projects.
At the time, SCC Mills only
had experience making the kind
of pipes needed to transport
water, not oil and gas.
“We worked extensively with
SCC Mills and National Petroleum
Investment Management Services
(NAPIMS) for four years to
develop new specifications for
the pipes, so they would meet
international standards for lowpressure
and shallow-water applications,”
says Cyril Odu, MPN
executive vice chairman.
Collaboration showcased
The achievement, which industry
experts consider remarkable
given the limited local fabrication
capability just a few years
before, showcased a collabora-
tive effort by MPN, NAPIMS,
other Nigerian government
agencies and service contractors.
For example, MPN
arranged for joint visits with
SCC Mill employees to South
Africa and South Korea to study
mill facilities and materials procurement.
They traveled to the
United States to learn engineering
standards. MPN retained
experienced inspectors to train
SCC workers in proper pipemilling
procedures.
Adamac Pipes established
local sources for the iron ores
needed for the coating services,
while other companies, such
as Saipem Nigeria Ltd, were
brought in to handle marine
operations for welding and laying
the pipelines on the seabed.
But the combined efforts led
to contracts creating hundreds
of direct and indirect jobs for
Nigerians.
“It culminates many years
of hard work,” says Morrison
Fiddi, group general manager
of NAPIMS. “With this, oil and
gas companies in Nigeria can
procure quality pipes produced
locally at significantly lower cost
than if they were purchased
from foreign suppliers.”
Understandably, the Nigerian
government is excited by the
accomplishment, which could
spur additional investments in
local engineering and fabrication
yards, creating even more jobs
for local workers. In fact, officials
estimate that three or four new
mills and other manufacturing
plants will be built around the
country in the next four years.

When offshore pipelines needed to be replaced,
Mobil Producing Nigeria used a local manufacturer –
an industry first for a Nigerian oil and gas facility.
“It holds huge economic significance
for Nigeria,” says Ernest
Nwapa, executive secretary of the
Nigerian Content Development
and Monitoring Board. “We
expect it will attract companies
and individuals to invest in pipe
mills and threading plants, or
upgrade fabrication yards and
machine shops, and other critical
facilities to build Nigerian capacity
and limit the importing of pipes
and other products.”
Strict standards upheld
Nwapa says that companies
doing business in Nigeria could
not purchase locally made products
because they did not meet
the necessary strict international
certification standards. But that
has now changed. He says that
extensive tests on the pipes
both locally and overseas confirmed
that they meet or exceed
required technical specifications.
“Not only do we have pending
orders for more than 60 miles of
specialized pipelines that will be
made here,” Nwapa says, “but
we are using the model created
by MPN to ensure that industry
quality and safety standards are
met, and to help other local firms
in developing their pipe mills.
“MPN initiated this effort even
when there was no expectation
to do so,” Nwapa notes. “This
demonstrated a commitment to
pursue a national aspiration, and
MPN should be proud for pioneering
this courageous move.
“This will surely boost Nigerian
content development, create
more opportunities for training,
and sustain the employment
of Nigerians in the oil and gas
industry,” he says. the Lamp
14

15
A historic agreement
The strategic cooperation
agreement signed in August by
ExxonMobil and Rosneft involves
planned joint exploration and
development of oil and naturalgas
resources in Russia, the
United States and other countries
as well as the sharing of technology
and expertise.
If successful, the program
will involve investments of up
to $3.2 billion for exploration of
East Prinovozemelskiy Blocks
1, 2 and 3 in the Kara Sea, and
the Tuapse License Block in the
Black Sea. These are among
Story by Bob Davis
the most promising and least
explored offshore areas in the
world, with high potential for liquids
and gas.
Rex W. Tillerson, chairman
and CEO of Exxon Mobil
Corporation, who attended the
ceremony with Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin, said
ExxonMobil will benefit Russian
energy development by working
closely with Rosneft.
“This large-scale partnership
represents a significant strategic
step by both companies,”
Tillerson said. “This agreement
ExxonMobil and Rosneft ink broad
program for exploration, technologysharing
and joint international projects.
takes our relationship to a new
level and will create substantial
value for both companies.”
Signing the agreement
on behalf of ExxonMobil
Development Company, President
Neil Duffin said, “Today’s agreement
with Rosneft builds on
our 15-year successful relationship
in the Sakhalin-1 project.
Our technology, innovation and
project-execution capabilities will
complement Rosneft’s strengths
and experience, especially in the
area of understanding the future
of Russian shelf development.”
“We have a clear vision for
Rosneft’s strategic direction –
building world-class expertise in
offshore business and enhancing
oil recovery,” said Rosneft
President Eduard Khudainatov,
following the signing ceremony
in Russia.
“The partnership between
Rosneft, with its unique resource
base, and the largest and one of
the most highly capitalized companies
in the world reflects our
commitment to increasing capitalization
of our business through
application of best-in-class tech-

nology, an innovative approach
to business management, and
enhancement of our staff potential,”
Khudainatov said. “This
venture comes as a result of
many years of cooperation with
ExxonMobil, and brings Rosneft
into large-scale world-class projects,
turning the company into a
global energy leader.”
Rosneft will have the opportunity
to gain equity interest in a
number of ExxonMobil’s exploration
plays in North America,
including deepwater Gulf of
Mexico and tight-oil fields in
Texas, plus additional opportunities
in other countries. The
More than 30 million acres
of exploration potential
The East Prinovozemelskiy License Blocks encompass 30
million acres in water depths ranging from 165 feet to 500
feet. The Tuapse Block in the Black Sea has the total area of
2.8 million acres with water depths ranging from 3,300 feet
to 6,500 feet. Rosneft equity interest in both joint ventures
will be 66.7 percent, while ExxonMobil will hold 33.3 percent.
In the course of the projects, the companies will use
global best practices to develop state-of-the-art safety and
environmental protection systems.
companies have also agreed
to conduct a joint study involving
the development of tight-oil
resources in Western Siberia.
In addition, an Arctic Research
and Design Center for Offshore
Developments in St. Petersburg
will be created. Staffed by
ExxonMobil and Rosneft employees,
the center will use proprietary
ExxonMobil and Rosneft technologies,
and will develop new
technology to support the joint
Arctic projects, including drilling,
production and ice-class drilling
platforms, and other projects.
The agreement provides for
constructive dialogue with the
Russian Federation government
concerning creation of a fiscal
regime based on global best
practices.
Rosneft and ExxonMobil also
will create a program of staff
exchanges of technical and
management employees that will
help strengthen the relationships
between the companies and
provide valuable career-development
opportunities. the Lamp
Photo Corbis Corporation
16

17
New energy
for the Asia-Pacific market
Story by Thomas L. Torget Photography by John Krutop, Michael Kotlen and Bob Crogan
ExxonMobil and its joint-venture partners are developing a
major new liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea
to help meet the region’s rapidly growing energy demand.
Five Bell 412 helicopters stay busy transporting passengers and
cargo, both on and offshore. The personnel helicopters can carry
as many as nine passengers, and cargo helicopters can carry
up to 1,500 pounds of construction supplies. These helicopters
travel up to 160 miles an hour with a range of 460 miles.

Construction crews will
install more than 500 miles
of pipeline, both onshore
and offshore. The main gas
pipeline will travel from an
elevation above 9,000 feet in
the Highlands to sea level.
Nowhere in the world is energy
demand rising faster than in the
Asia-Pacific region. Energy use there
is expected to grow by two-thirds
during the next 25 years, which is
equivalent to adding the population
of another Australia to the region
every 18 months.
To help meet this soaring
demand, Exxon Mobil Corporation
subsidiary Esso Highlands Limited
is working with six joint-venture
partners to develop a major liquefied
natural gas (LNG) project in
resource-rich Papua New Guinea.
Known as PNG LNG, the project
is a multiphase development that
The Hides Gas Conditioning Plant is now under
construction. From here, the natural gas will travel
by pipeline to the LNG plant north of Port Moresby.
will include gas production and
processing facilities, onshore and
offshore pipelines, and a liquefaction
plant with a capacity of 6.6
million tons a year of LNG. The gas
will be sold to customers in China,
Japan and Taiwan, with deliveries
expected to begin in 2014. During
its 30-year life, the venture should
produce more than 9 trillion cubic
feet of natural gas. Investment in the
initial phase of the project, excluding
the cost of building ships, is
estimated at $15 billion. More than
9,300 workers are now involved in
construction of the facilities.
18

19
William Siriam climbs aboard his
Caterpillar front-end loader to
excavate material at the site of
the LNG processing and storage
facility. Designed to have a low
environmental impact, the plant
is being built northwest of Port
Moresby on the Gulf of Papua.
Project Execution Engineer Kelly
Canning learns about butterfly
harvesting from Highlands butterfly
and orchid farmer Lawrence
Kage. Kage is also chairman of the
Lake Kutubu Wildlife Reserve, an
organization that works with local
villagers to support sustainable
fishing practices.
Spectacular Beaver Falls is along the Soroga River
in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Because of extremely rugged terrain in the area,
most people only see the falls from an aircraft.

To support local education,
PNG LNG has provided supplies
to more than 22,500 students
like Jacinta, shown with her
younger brother Eric.
Upstream North Land and
Community Affairs Manager
David Ekins (left) and
Upstream Area Construction
Manager Jim Smith confer
during a visit to Nogoli Camp
in the Southern Highlands.
20

21
Project has seven participants
Participating interests in PNG LNG
include Esso Highlands Limited as operator
(33.2%), Oil Search Limited (29%),
National Petroleum Company PNG (PNG
Government, 16.6%), Santos Limited
(13.5%), JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration
(4.7%), Mineral Resources Development
Company (PNG landowners, 2.8%) and
Petromin PNG Holdings Limited (0.2%).
Juha production facility
250 mcfd
Illustration by Pat Gabriel
Jascintha RuMark, a civil
quality inspector, says that
ExxonMobil’s safety and
environmental culture has
been instilled into the lives
of everyone on the project.
Rich gas line
Liquids line
Hides gasconditioning
plant
960 mcfd
Angore
wellheads
Liquids line to Kutubu
Gas line to LNG plant

Kutubu
oil facility
(existing)
Australia
The project’s newly constructed Mubi
River bridge provides access from the
lowlands in the south to the Highlands
in the north. The 435-foot bridge, near
Beaver Falls, is the longest of its type
in Papua New Guinea.
•Wewak
Kopi
•
Oil export
platform
(existing)
Subsea gas
line
250 miles
Papua New Guinea
•Lae
LNG plant
•
Port Moresby
National Workforce Development
Manager Patti McNulty (center)
is shown with the first group of
operations and maintenance
technicians to complete initial
training before the group heads
to Nova Scotia, Canada, for a
year of advanced skills training.
Initial LNG supplies to Asia
PNG LNG will supply four major customers in
Asia through long-term sales, including: CPC
Corporation, Taiwan; Osaka Gas Company
Limited; The Tokyo Electric Power Company
Inc.; and Unipec Asia Company Limited, a
subsidiary of China Petroleum and Chemical
Corporation (Sinopec). the Lamp
To learn more
pnglng.com
22

Millennium, a sculpture commissioned
for the grand opening of the Singapore
Chemical Plant in 2002, embodies
Singapore’s can-do spirit.
23
Story by Mike Long
A can-do spirit
thrives in Singapore
ExxonMobil’s Singapore Chemical Plant celebrates
10 years of progress – and the best is yet to come.
The Singapore Chemical Plant (foreground) and Singapore Refinery
form ExxonMobil’s largest integrated manufacturing complex in Asia.
At the January 2002 grand opening
of the ExxonMobil Singapore
Chemical Plant (SCP), then-Singapore
Deputy Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong dedicated a sculpture
commissioned for the event.
Titled Millennium, the life-sized
statue, representing a “tapestry of
humanity,” was crafted by a visually
impaired artist to embody the
can-do spirit of Singapore.
That same spirit also marks
the continued operational excellence
and growth of SCP.
From the initial $2 billion
grassroots investment to construct
the facility, to the ongoing
upgrades that provide even
greater advantages for chemical
and refining integration, the complex
represents ExxonMobil’s
largest single investment in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Encompassing some 200
acres on Jurong Island, most
of which was reclaimed from
the sea, the SCP site is fully
integrated with the 605,000-barrel-a-day
Singapore Refinery.
Together they form ExxonMobil’s
largest integrated manufacturing
complex in Asia.
A global player
SCP plays a key role in supporting
the company’s manufacturing
and supply network globally
as well as regionally.
It features a world-scale
steam cracker that uses
ExxonMobil technology to process
hydrocarbon feedstock
from the Singapore Refinery and
other Asia-Pacific sources to
produce 1.5 million tons of basic
chemicals a year. These include
ethylene, propylene and butylenes
for use in making plastics
and other products. In addition,
byproducts from the steam
cracker are sent to cogeneration
units to generate steam and
electricity for powering the entire
refining and chemical complex.
SCP serves more than 15
major markets with a variety of
products, including:
Polypropylene, used to make
automotive trim parts, appliances
and other consumer
products
Polyethylene, used in numerous
products such as flexible
food packaging, milk bottles
and storage containers
Oxo-alcohols, converted into
plasticizers that enhance the
quality of finished products
including cable insulation, floor
tiles, caulking and gloves
Industry and
community honors
The complex has received
numerous awards for excellence
in safety and environmental performance.
These include honors
from the Singapore Chemistry
Industry Council for employee
health and safety, community
awareness and emergency
response, pollution prevention,

process safety, product stewardship
and distribution.
Active in the community, SCP
has supported a number of
educational initiatives. It was also
instrumental in the startup of the
Neighborhood Environmental
Safety and Health Network, which
promotes best-practice sharing
in safety, health and environment
among its industrial neighbors.
Size to double
In 2007, ExxonMobil began construction
of a second world-scale
steam cracker and associated
derivative units to be fully inte-
grated with SCP and the refinery.
The project includes construction
of new polyethylene,
polypropylene and specialty
elastomers plants, an aromaticsextraction
unit and expansion of
oxo-alcohol production.
Upon startup of the cracker
in the second half of 2012, the
expansion will have doubled
SCP’s size to make the integrated
refining and petrochemical
complex ExxonMobil’s largest
in the world. The complex will
also become a showcase for the
ExxonMobil model of refinery and
chemical integration, combining
This 15-story steam-cracking furnace weighing the equivalent
of five jumbo airliners is one of seven that are part of a project
to double the size of the Singapore Chemical Plant.
the company’s strengths in feedstock
flexibility, operating excellence
and production efficiency.
SCP Manager Derk Jan
Hartgerink recalls attending a
meeting in the early 1990s when
the idea of an integrated chemical
plant was first discussed.
“We put together a preliminary
blueprint, mainly just a concept,”
says Hartgerink, who was serving
as feedstock coordinator
for a planning group that at the
time was called Exxon Chemical
Major Ventures Asia Pacific. “The
plans were reworked over several
years as new manufacturing and
processing technologies became
available. To have seen SCP grow
from the idea stage to become
one of the world’s
largest sources
of petrochemical
products has
To learn more
exxonmobil.com/
chemical
been a remarkable experience.
“Now, as we celebrate SCP’s
10th anniversary, we are about
to complete a major expansion
that should make our 20th anniversary
twice as exciting. I look
forward to that celebration with
much anticipation.” the Lamp
24

25
Champion race
drivers swap cars
to showcase Mobil 1 lubricants
NASCAR’s Tony Stewart and Formula 1’s
Lewis Hamilton trade rides at legendary
Watkins Glen International.
Story by Thomas L. Torget
Imagine football quarterback
Peyton Manning firing fastballs
from the pitcher’s mound at
Yankee Stadium. Or baseball’s
Derek Jeter calling signals as quarterback
of the Dallas Cowboys.
Two famous race car drivers
did something almost as amazing
earlier this year, when they traded
cars and took turns speeding
around Watkins Glen International
raceway in New York.
Tony Stewart earns his living
driving stock cars in the United
States in races sanctioned by the
National Association for Stock
Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
Lewis Hamilton drives Formula 1
race cars in Grand Prix events,
sanctioned by the Federation
Internationale de l’Automobile
(FIA) and held around the world.
Both drivers are recognized
worldwide as being among auto
racing’s best.
NASCAR and Formula 1 cars
have a number of differences
between them. NASCAR vehicles
are heavier and more powerful.
Formula 1 cars are much smaller
and more aerodynamic. The skills
required for success in each category
differ significantly, and driving
an unfamiliar car at racetrack
speeds presents a real challenge,
even to experienced drivers.
“Mobil 1 has supported championship
racing for more than 30
years,” says Rebecca Aldred,
global brand manager for Mobil 1
synthetic motor oil. “To showcase
that support, we brought these
two champions together so they
could drive each other’s cars on a
challenging course. Because both
cars use Mobil 1, it was a perfect
way to demonstrate the product’s
superior performance under the
extreme conditions of racing.”
Trading places
Before a crowd of race fans and
motorsports journalists from
around the world, Hamilton took
laps in Stewart’s No. 14 Mobil 1/
Office Depot Chevrolet Impala,
while Stewart took the course in
the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
MP4-23.
“I’d always wondered what

Mobil motor oils are made for the way you drive
ExxonMobil is the industry leader in the manufacture
and marketing of synthetic motor oils, from premium-conventional
to advanced-synthetic. Mobil’s
family of motor oils is designed for new as well as
high-mileage vehicles in everyday and extremedriving
conditions. From NASCAR to Formula 1,
American Le Mans to Porsche SuperCup, winning
motorsports teams trust Mobil 1 technology
to deliver the performance and engine protection
needed to meet the grueling demands of the track.
Mobil 1 is recommended by more car builders
than any other brand of synthetic motor oil
Mobil 1 Extended Performance delivers guaranteed
protection of critical engine parts for up to
15,000 miles between oil changes*
Opposite page: David Coulthard,
former Formula 1 racing driver and
winner of 13 Grand Prix events, introduces
Mobil 1 drivers Tony Stewart
and Lewis Hamilton at Watkins Glen
International raceway in New York.
Above: Tony Stewart (left) and Lewis
Hamilton get ready to swap cars and
demonstrate their racing skills.
Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy helps improve
fuel economy by up to 2 percent** while providing
outstanding engine protection
Mobil 1 High Mileage is designed specifically for
vehicles with more than 75,000 miles, and contains
additional seal conditioner to help prevent leaks
In addition to producing the best-performing motor
oils for cars, trucks and motorcycles, we also offer
other Mobil 1 products to help keep your vehicles in
top condition. These include automatic transmission
fluids, gear lubricants, synthetic grease and oil filters.
*Please follow the recommendations in your owner’s manual while your car is under warranty.
For more information about the Mobil 1 Extended Performance Guarantee, see www.mobiloil.
com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_Extended_Performance_Warranty.aspx.
** Comparison based upon 2 percent potential fuel economy improvement obtained by switching
from higher viscosity oils to a 0W-20 or 0W-30 grade. Actual savings are dependent upon vehicle/engine
type, outside temperature, driving conditions and your current engine oil’s viscosity.
26

27
Not your family automobiles
At a glance, NASCAR vehicles resemble family sedans. But,
close inspection reveals a car quite different from what’s in your
garage. Every detail of these race cars is engineered for maximum
speed, performance and safety. A typical Sprint Cup Series
car weighs about 3,400 pounds, is powered by an 850-horsepower
engine that produces 530 foot-pounds of torque, and
achieves speeds exceeding 200 miles an hour.
Formula 1 cars feature highly engineered fiber-composite bodies,
open wheels and aerofoil wings front and rear. The wings
create downward force that helps control the vehicle, particularly
around curves. These cars are relatively lightweight (slightly over
1,411 pounds) and have engines that produce over 760 horsepower
revving to 18,000 rpm. Race speeds exceed 240 mph.
it would be like behind the
wheel of a NASCAR stock car,
because it’s completely different
from a Formula 1 car,” says
Hamilton, a native of Stevenage,
England. “Thanks to Mobil 1, I
not only got the chance to drive
the car of Tony Stewart, but
he got to drive my Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes Formula 1
car, too. That was one of the
coolest experiences of my life.”
Hamilton joined the Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes racing team
in 2007 at age 21. At the end
of only his second season in
the sport, he was named FIA
Formula 1 World Champion. He
has now competed in 78 Grand
Prix races, winning 16 times,
most recently at the German
Grand Prix on July 24.
Tony Stewart, who has won
39 Sprint Cup races and two
Sprint Cup championships, says
he’s always been intrigued by
the open-wheel cars used in
Formula 1 racing.
“Feeling the power behind the
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
was amazing, and being able to
drive it in front of a crowd of avid
race fans at a track like Watkins
Glen made it even more spe

cial,” says Stewart, whose openwheel
experience came in the
IZOD IndyCar Series where he
won the championship in 1997,
along with running Sprint Cars in
the World of Outlaws and Sprint,
Midget and Silver Crown cars in
United States Auto Club racing.
Huge global campaign
“The Mobil 1 car swap allowed
ExxonMobil to take advantage
of the tremendous fan interest
in two of Mobil 1’s premier drivers,”
says Debra Emory, global
marketing communications
manager, ExxonMobil Lubricants
& Specialties. “Our worldwide
promotion drew more than 100
journalists and photographers
from eight countries to the event
and generated media coverage
in 35 countries.
“In addition, fans and motorsports
reporters posted on
YouTube some 100 videos
about the car swap, which have
been viewed more than 400,000
times. Our car swap tab on the
Mobil 1 Facebook page has
been visited more than 15,000
times. And some 400 messages
from fans and reporters via
Twitter have reached in excess
of 500,000 people.”
Emory estimates that more
than a half-billion consumers
heard about the Mobil 1 car
swap based on the 546 million
media impressions (individuals
who read the story) generated
worldwide from the traditional
media coverage and social
media components.
This year marks the debut
season for Mobil 1’s spon-
sorship of Stewart’s No. 14
Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevy
Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing
and the ninth consecutive season
in which Mobil 1 is the offi-
cial motor oil of NASCAR.
ExxonMobil’s relationship
with McLaren began in 1995.
During the 16-year partnership,
the company has
developed new To learn more
lubricants and fuels mobil1.com
that have improved
the race team’s performance,
efficiency and reliability. This
focus on technical innovation has
helped ExxonMobil and McLaren
win four Formula 1 World
Championships, along with 68
Grand Prix victories. the Lamp
28

A whale of a tale
When international researchers tagged Flex, a male western gray whale, in October 2010,
they never dreamed his journey would span some 5,300 miles – from Russia across the
Bering Sea to the west coast of North America. Flex’s odyssey provided surprising insight
into the winter range of these critically endangered whales once considered extinct.
There are believed to be 130
western North Pacific gray whales
(or western gray whales) in the
world, with perhaps only 33 reproductively
active females. The primary
summer feeding grounds for
these critically endangered mammals
is along the northeastern
shore of Russia’s Sakhalin Island,
near where Exxon Neftegas
Limited (ENL), a subsidiary of
Exxon Mobil Corporation, operates
an offshore production platform
and plans to install a second.
Since 1997, ENL, on behalf
of the Sakhalin-1 Consortium,
has co-sponsored a successful
western gray whale research and
monitoring program carried out
by prominent marine-mammal
scientists. The program has been
conducted in close cooperation
29
Story by Tracy Torma
with Russian scientific institutes
affiliated with the Russian
Academy of Sciences.
A satellite-tagging program –
coordinated by the International
Whaling Commission and funded
by ENL and Sakhalin Energy
Investment Company – was
put into place in 2010 to better
understand where the whales go
after they leave Sakhalin each
year. ENL personnel provided
planning and logistical support to
facilitate field operations.
The scientific expedition was
led by the A.N. Severtsov Institute
for Ecology and Evolution of the
Russian Academy of Sciences.
Whale tagging, coordinated
by Dr. Bruce Mate, an Oregon
State University researcher and
a pioneer in satellite tracking of
whales, targeted healthy adult
male whales.
Tagging up close
Cautious whales and rough seas
complicated the tagging operation
in 2010. Even though 25
different males were sighted and
approached, Flex was the only
successful candidate, tagged in
early October 2010 on the last
day of the five-week expedition.
Sighted at Sakhalin since
he was a calf in 1997, Flex is a
14-year-old adult male.
Tagging Flex was no easy task.
Researchers must approach the
whale from behind in a small
boat. They then use an air-powered
applicator at close range to
apply a stainless steel tag in the
whale’s blubber and muscle. The
A western gray whale feeds
in waters off Sakhalin Island.
The well-site complex for
the ExxonMobil-operated
Sakhalin-1 Project is barely
visible onshore.
Photo composite
copyright Oregon State University
Sakhalin Island
Kamchatka
Peninsula

tag is thin enough to fit through
a wedding ring and half again
longer than a fountain pen. An
electronic transmitter inside the
tag produces a half-watt signal
picked up by orbiting satellites
that track the whale’s location.
“You have to be very close
when placing the tag,” says
Mate. “We often make many
approaches before we succeed.”
A surprising turn
Although Flex remained off
Northeast Sakhalin from October
until mid-December 2010,
what happened next surprised
researchers. Many expected Flex
to migrate south along the Asian
coast toward the South China
Sea to unidentified winter breeding
areas. Instead, he moved
across the Sea of Okhotsk to
Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
He then swam across the Bering
Sea in deep water, south through
the eastern Aleutian Islands
and southeast across the Gulf
of Alaska. Flex’s last confirmed
location was only 20 miles off the
BERING
SEA
PACIFIC OCEAN
central Oregon coast on February
5, 2011, when the tag ceased
operating. He had traveled more
than 5,300 miles in 124 days.
“The straight-line route he
often took, his higher-thannormal
speed, his arrival into the
south-bound migratory path of
eastern Pacific gray whales, and
his swimming across deep water
surprised almost everyone,”
Mate says.
One of the biggest revelations
of Flex’s travels was that he has
appeared on the eastern side
of the North Pacific before. A
photographic match for Flex was
found in a catalogue of the eastern
Pacific gray whale population.
The picture had been taken in
April 2008 off Vancouver Island.
Learning about habitats
What do Flex’s travels tell
researchers?
“In the case of the western
gray whales, we still don’t know
where they go in the winter for
breeding and calving, which
is vital to the survival of that
Flex puzzled scientists by migrating east from offshore Sakhalin
Island in 2010 and across the Bering Sea to the U.S. West Coast.
Many had expected him to migrate south along the Asian coast
toward the South China Sea to unidentified winter breeding areas.
United States
Watching out for the whales
Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL) has strict operational criteria
to manage potential disturbance of whales feeding off
Sakhalin Island.
These criteria are based on published science as well as
studies sponsored by ENL since 1997. The studies provide
information about the level of noise produced by shoreline
or offshore operations – whether seismic work, pipelines,
drill rigs or a fixed platform – and the potential of that noise
to propagate into feeding areas. The levels are compared
with published thresholds, and appropriate actions are
taken to minimize any disturbance to the whales. When
ENL conducts work offshore, expert observers are on hand
to observe the whales.
“We’ve taken a scientific approach to learning more
about these animals and how our project interacts
with them,” adds Dr. Rodger Melton, ExxonMobil chief
environmental scientist. “Through our efforts, we have a
much better understanding about the range of the whales
and their options for feeding. We’ve also watched the
known western gray whale population grow from less than
100 in 2000 to around 130 or more today.”
stock,” says Mate. “This is a
population that was hunted to
near extinction. By tagging and
tracking western gray whales,
we gain more information about
the population. It could show
there are more animals than
originally thought. Knowing
where they are seasonally and
providing protection will help the
population recover.”
Other ENL-supported scientific
studies over the years have
revealed that, contrary to initial
understanding, there are a number
of feeding areas for western
gray whales that are geographically
distributed. These include
areas farther offshore Sakhalin
Island in water more than 150
feet deep, and waters off the east
coast of Kamchatka Peninsula.
“Our efforts to protect them
have been going on for many
years, and Flex is just one part
of the story,” says Dan Egging,
Safety, Security, Health &
Environment manager for the
Sakhalin-1 Project. “Our sciencebased
research, monitoring and
protection measures have proven
that we can coexist with the
whales, that the population is
increasing and that their domain
is greater than originally believed.”
Summer 2011 activity
Research continues. Mate and
other scientists returned to
Sakhalin Island waters in the
summer of 2011 to successfully
tag five more healthy adult male
and female
whales. As
expected,
they also
To learn more
http://mmi.oregonstate.
edu/sakhalin2011
spotted Flex and photographed
him as he interacted with other
whales in the area.
The newly tagged animals
will be tracked on their journeys
to their wintering and breeding
grounds for as long as the tags
remain implanted. the Lamp
30

A legacy of synthetic
rubber innovation
When the first synthetic rubber
was patented in 1909, its higher
cost relative to natural rubber
limited its use. As auto production
surged in the decades that
followed, high demand for tires
and inner tubes spurred interest
in developing a better and less
costly type of synthetic rubber.
The breakthrough came in
1937, when ExxonMobil scientists
introduced a dynamic
new rubber called butyl. This
unique material was far superior
to natural rubber because of its
improved ability to hold air, to flex
and to dampen vibration. Butyl
soon became the leading rubber
used in inner tubes and, years
later, to hold air in tubeless tires.
Today butyl rubber is practically
everywhere in our lives.
While its primary use remains
vehicle tires and tubes, butyl is
also found in inflatable sports
balls, medicine-container stoppers
and seals, hoses, gaskets,
conveyor belts, mounts for auto
engines and transmissions, tank
linings, roofing materials, contact
cement, sealing tapes, flooring
adhesives and more.
“Global demand for butyl
rubber has been, and continues
to be, quite strong,” says
Mike Gallagher, ExxonMobil
Chemical’s butyl global marketing
and sales manager. “We expect
demand growth to average
about 6 percent annually worldwide
between now and 2020,
31
Story by Thomas L. Torget
Nearly three-quarters of a century after inventing butyl rubber,
ExxonMobil Chemical is a world leader in synthetic rubber
technology, products and customer support.
with even higher growth in the
Asia-Pacific region. That growing
demand makes this an excellent
business to be in – a business
ExxonMobil Chemical has led.”
The quest for
synthetic rubber
As long ago as the mid-1800s,
chemists began experimenting
with ways to create a material
that could substitute for natural
rubber. During the early 1930s,
the German company I.G. Farben
shared with ExxonMobil its work
on synthetic rubber technology.
This led to development of butyl
in 1937 by ExxonMobil scientists
William Sparks and Robert
Thomas. The two researchers’
innovation was a huge breakthrough
because – unlike other
synthetic rubbers – butyl could
be vulcanized, that is, cured with
heat and sulfur to impart elasticity
and other useful properties.
The discovery set in motion
ExxonMobil’s subsequent development
of a full range of synthetic
rubbers and other elastomers.
The world’s first facility to
produce commercial quantities
of butyl was ExxonMobil’s Baton
Rouge butyl plant, which began
operating in 1943. Production
increased two years later when
the company opened a second
butyl plant in Baytown, Texas.
By the 1950s, ExxonMobil
researchers had developed
technology for an all-butyl tire
that provided improved traction,
cornering and energy-absorbing
properties. The all-butyl tire
provided a smooth ride but,
unfortunately, the tire wear was
poor: pieces of the tire were left
on the road. This era also saw
development of an improved
butyl known as halobutyl, which
allowed covulcanizing with natural
rubber and styrene-butadiene
rubber. This led to ExxonMobil
Chemical’s introduction of two
The qualities of
halobutyl rubber
help to retain air in
tubeless radial tires.
new products, chlorobutyl and,
later, bromobutyl. These ongoing
enhancements in butyl quality not
only continued to improve the
performance of tires and inner
tubes, but also found application
in a wide range of other industrial
and consumer products.
Today’s product lineup
ExxonMobil Chemical’s butyl
portfolio now includes three
major products – Exxon butyl

Halobutyl rubber, a high-value polymer that ExxonMobil
Chemical produces around the world, moves down a
conveyor belt at the Baton Rouge plant.
rubber, Exxon chlorobutyl rubber
and Exxon bromobutyl rubber –
and one developmental product,
Exxcore dynamically vulcanized
alloy (DVA) resin.
Exxon butyl rubber is the
foundation of today’s butyl rubber
technology. Its primary properties
of excellent air-barrier performance,
good flex fatigue and
vibration damping make regular
butyl a base component in inner
tube manufacturing.
ExxonMobil Chemical makes
several grades of halobutyl that
provide improved resistance to
heat, ozone and flex fatigue.
Halobutyl rubber offers improved
compatibility and adhesion to
hold air in tubeless radial tires for
both passenger cars and heavyduty
trucks.
Exxcore DVA resin is a
blend of a specialty elastomer
and nylon. It is ExxonMobil
Chemical’s next-generation butyl
for advanced tire innerliners.
“Exxcore is an amazing product
that could lead to a maintenance-free
tire,” says Gallagher.
“It can be used to make a tire
innerliner that’s as thin and light
as a plastic bag. Such a liner
requires 80 percent less material
than a conventional innerliner
and is five to 10 times better
Photo Ed Lallo
at retaining tire pressure. That
translates to lighter tires and
increased fuel efficiency.”
Ever-growing demand
While demand for ExxonMobil
Chemical’s butyl products is
strong worldwide, it’s especially
robust in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Auto production is booming
in Asia, especially in China,”
says Gallagher. “Transportation
infrastructure, particularly new
and improved roads, and the
driving population are expanding
rapidly. This has created a
demand for new vehicles and,
in turn, has led to tire sales for
new cars and trucks as well as
the sale of replacement tires as
these vehicles age.”
Keeping up with ever-growing
demand for its butyl products is
something ExxonMobil Chemical
has focused on for several
decades. Company plants in
the United States and France,
along with a joint-venture with
JSR in Japan, have all been
expanded multiple times to produce
greater volumes of butyl.
Total production capacity has
doubled since 1995. Additional
grassroots capacity is being
studied to support the strong
Asia-Pacific growth.
Customer support
Working with customers to
continuously improve product
performance has been critical
to ExxonMobil Chemical’s long
record of success. Today that
technical support for the butyl
business is based at the company’s
technology centers in
Baytown, Texas; Akron, Ohio;
and Bangalore, India. These
centers enable company scientists
and engineers to work
closely with individual customers
to develop premium-product
applications and to tailor solutions
to local markets.
“ExxonMobil’s customers
have benefited from our longterm
commitment to research
and development,” says Will
Cirioli, ExxonMobil Chemical’s
global technology vice president.
“Throughout the company’s history,
our scientists and engineers
have continued to develop leading-edge
products to position us
for future success.”
ExxonMobil Chemical has
earned a premier position in
the synthetic rubber industry.
It has come
after decades
of achievement
in product and
To learn more
exxonmobil.com/
chemical
process innovation, along with
the development of a global network
of manufacturing facilities
and technology centers. That
seems appropriate for a company
that helped create this
industry nearly three-quarters of
a century ago. the Lamp
32

Panorama
Around the world with ExxonMobil
Indonesian development moves ahead
Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that
the development of the Indonesian Banyu
Urip field in the Cepu Block in East Java
has achieved a significant milestone with
the award of the first of five engineering,
procurement and construction contracts for
work on critical facilities.
ExxonMobil’s Mobil Cepu Ltd. is operator
of the Cepu Block with 45 percent interest.
The other co-venturers are Pertamina with 45
percent interest and four local government
companies holding the remaining 10 percent.
“This is a major milestone in the development
of the Banyu Urip field,” says Neil
Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development
Company. “Based on appraisal drilling,
we’ve increased estimates of the recoverable
resource under full development to 450
million barrels. This multibillion-dollar project
continues to benefit from the strengths of
both Pertamina and ExxonMobil, and provides
the foundation for a strong partnership
between the two companies as well as with
33
the local government companies.”
Full-field development is planned to
produce 165,000 barrels of oil a day from
facilities that include 49 wells on three well
pads, a central-processing facility, and a
60-mile pipeline to transfer the processed
oil to a 1.7-million-barrel floating storage
and offloading (FSO) unit in the Java Sea.
Tankers will load crude oil from the FSO for
transport to domestic and world markets.
Construction should be completed in 36
months and the startup of full-field production
is expected afterwards, pending regulatory
approvals. Early oil production on the
Banyu Urip development began in 2009 from
facilities with demonstrated capacity of producing
more than 20,000 oil barrels a day.
“The excellent performance of the early
production wells and facilities adds economic
value to the overall project, and is supportive
of the government of Indonesia’s priorities to
safely and effectively develop the Cepu Block
oil and gas resources,” Duffin says.
Based on appraisal drilling,
full-field development of
ExxonMobil’s Cepu Block
in East Java should recover
450 million barrels of oil.
Affiliate to build
new crude carriers
Exxon Mobil Corporation’s U.S.
marine affiliate, SeaRiver Maritime,
Inc., has signed an agreement with
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard for the
construction of two new Liberty
Class tankers valued at $400 million,
which will create more than
1,000 direct jobs during two years
of construction.
The double-hull vessels will be
used to transport Alaska North
Slope crude oil to U.S. West Coast
destinations. They will be built to
include the latest navigation and
communications equipment, and
will exceed current environmental
and energy-efficiency standards.

Doron Levin honored
The Society of Chemical Industry
presented ExxonMobil Research
and Engineering Company
(EMRE) employee Doron Levin
its prestigious Gordon E. Moore
Medal in September. The society
honored Levin for his accomplishments
with the discovery, development
and commercialization
of novel catalytic applications to
improve the environmental performance
of chemical, clean fuel
and high-performance lubricant
production processes.
“Doron’s innovative work began
during a graduate-school internship with ExxonMobil when he developed
a catalyst that increased efficiency in hydro-processing units and
saved millions for our refineries,” says Emil Jacobs, vice president of
research and development at EMRE. “He is a creative, focused, driven
researcher, who has made significant contributions in our search for efficient,
effective energy solutions.”
Dr. Levin joined EMRE in 1997 and currently holds 40 U.S. patents,
with more than 200 patents and patent applications filed around the
world. He also is the recipient of two ExxonMobil Chemical global
technology awards, in addition to receiving ExxonMobil Process
Research Innovator of the Year honors in 2009 and 2010.
Steve Pryor (left),
president of ExxonMobil
Chemical Company, and
Mike Kerby (at right), manager
of global chemical
research, join Doron Levin,
honored for his work in
catalyst technology.
The view from 13,000 feet
ExxonMobil sponsored Boy Scout Troop 257, comprising young men from Saudi Arabia
and other countries, to the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico, earlier this
year. The scouts and their leaders hiked 83 miles during their 10-day stay at the ranch,
and climbed to the top of Baldy Mountain, Philmont’s highest point at nearly 13,000 feet.
The troop members learned to cook outdoors, observed black bears, participated
in a conservation project and honed their skills at rock climbing during their memorable
time away from home.
The Lamp is published for ExxonMobil
shareholders. Others may receive it on
request. It is produced by the Public Affairs
Department, Exxon Mobil Corporation.
Exxon Mobil Corporation has numerous
affiliates, many with names that include
ExxonMobil, Exxon, Esso and Mobil. For
convenience and simplicity in this publication,
those terms and the terms corporation,
company, our, we and its are sometimes
used as abbreviated references to specific
affiliates or affiliate groups. Similarly,
ExxonMobil has business relationships
with thousands of customers, suppliers,
governments and others. For convenience
and simplicity, words like venture, joint
venture, partnership, co-venturer and partner
are used to indicate business relationships
involving common activities and interests,
and those words may or may not indicate
precise legal relationships.
Trademark ownership: The terms Mobil 1,
PxMax, XyMax, Exxcore and Taking on the
world’s toughest energy challenges are
trademarks, service marks or certification
marks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or its
affiliates. The following terms are
trademarks or service marks of the entities
indicated: Formula 1 (Formula One
Licensing B.V.); NASCAR (National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Inc.);
McLaren (McLaren Racing Limited).
Forward-Looking Statements: Outlooks,
projections, estimates, targets and business
plans in this publication are forwardlooking
statements. Actual future results,
including demand growth and supply mix;
ExxonMobil’s own production growth and
mix; resource recoveries; project plans,
timing, costs and capacities; capital
expenditures; revenue enhancements and
cost efficiencies; margins; and the impact
of technology could differ materially due
to a number of factors. These include
changes in long-term oil or gas prices
or other market conditions affecting the
oil, gas and petrochemical industries;
reservoir performance; timely completion
of development projects; war and other
political or security disturbances; changes in
law or government regulation; the outcome
of commercial negotiations; the actions
of competitors; unexpected technological
developments; the occurrence and duration
of economic recessions; unforeseen
technical difficulties; and other factors
discussed here and under the heading
“Factors Affecting Future Results” in item 1
of our most recent Form 10-K and on our
website at exxonmobil.com.
Frequently Used Terms: References to
resources, the resource base, recoverable
resources, barrels and similar terms include
quantities of oil and gas that are not yet
classified as proved reserves, but that we
believe will likely be moved into the proved
reserves category and produced in the future.
Discussions of reserves in this publication
generally exclude the effects of year-end
price/cost revisions and include reserves
attributable to equity companies and our
Syncrude operations. For definitions of,
and information regarding, reserves, return
on average capital employed, normalized
earnings and other terms that may be used in
this publication, including information required
by SEC Regulation G, see the “Frequently
Used Terms” posted on our website. The
most recent Financial and Operating Review
on our website also shows ExxonMobil’s net
interest in specific projects.
34

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The Lamp or change their shareholder account
address by contacting ExxonMobil Shareholder
Services at 1-800-252-1800.
Shareholders may access their account
online at computershare.com/exxonmobil.
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© 2011 by Exxon Mobil Corporation
exxonmobil.com
Oil sands—good for
our energy security
and our economy.
North America has one of the largest oil
reserves in the world. This resource has
the ability to create hundreds of thousands
of jobs right here at home. At our Kearl
project in Canada, we will be able to produce
these oil sands with the same emissions
as many other oils, and that’s an important
breakthrough. That’s good for our energy
security and our economy.
Artis Brown | Engineer
More at exxonmobil.com
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