Ten years ago Chevron Phillips Chemical was born through a combination of the chemical assets of Chevron Corporation and Phillips Petroleum. In celebration of the company's birthday, here's a look back at just a few of the highlights that represent the journey.
- Establishing a culture where safety comes first. From day one, Chevron Phillips Chemical placed safety as the company's highest priority. Between 2001 and 2009 the company achieved a 72 percent reduction in its employee recordable incidence rate, and in 2009 ranked in the Top 10 percent of American Chemistry Council members for employee safety performance. Currently, 17 facilities have completed at least one year without an employee recordable injury or illness and 20 out of 23 eligible sites have been recognized as OSHA VPP Star sites.
- Controlling costs without sacrificing quality. In its first two years, Chevron Phillips Chemical captured more than $400 million in recurring synergies. The company streamlined its processes, found innovative ways to reduce costs, and remained vigilant in its strategic planning to ensure the company prospered in good times and bad.
- Diversifying the asset portfolio to include the Middle East. While the company had existing assets in the U.S., Europe, and Asia at the time of the joint venture, the past ten years have been spent securing the future of the company in the Middle East. With three facilities in Qatar (Q-Chem I, Q-Chem II, and RLOC) and two in Saudi Arabia (SCP and JCP), it's been a productive decade. A third mega-complex in Saudi Arabia (Saudi Polymers Company) is currently under construction and scheduled to start-up in 2011.
- Investing strategically in the U.S. Despite rapid growth in the Middle East, Chevron Phillips Chemical did not abandon its U.S. assets. To the contrary, the company made major investments to build polyethylene unit 1799 at Cedar Bayou (a shared asset with Ineos), a new cyclohexane plant in Port Arthur, the Ryton® PPS quench plant in Borger, an expansion at Pascagoula, and the storage-in-transit projects at Cedar Bayou, Orange and Pasadena.
- Making tough decisions when necessary for the betterment of the company. Not all product lines thrived during the last ten years. Although many businesses on the company'sfix or exit list showed marked improvement over time, several did not. When necessary, Chevron Phillips Chemical made tough decisions to exit business lines, downsize, or close assets to improve the company's portfolio. Some of these decisions included closing the acetylene black unit at Cedar Bayou, shutting down Puerto Rico Core, selling the cumene unit at Port Arthur, downsizing the K-Resin® SBC plant in Pasadena, and creating the Americas Styrenics joint venture to better leverage the company's U.S. styrene and polystyrene assets.
- Earning the respect of competitors for being a world-class company. When Chevron Phillips Chemical formed, the company was ranked in last place amongst its peers when comparing return on capital employed. The company has steadily climbed the peer-ranking charts, making continual improvements each year and ranked first place in 2009 benchmarking.
- Developing and improving technologies fundamental to the business. Both Chevron and Phillips Petroleum contributed strong technologies to the joint venture. From loop slurry to benzene production and 1-hexene to metallocene catalysts, the company has maintained its technology foothold in the annals of chemical discovery.
While these highlights do not begin to capture all of the milestones Chevron Phillips Chemical has achieved in its first ten years, they capture the essence of the can-do spirit that resonates throughout the company via its employees. No task is too big, no mountain too high, and no journey too far for citizens of the chemisphere. A company's portfolio isn't complete without a world-class team and the success that Chevron Phillips Chemical enjoys is a direct result of its employees, customers, shareholders and neighbors. On this tenth anniversary, we salute you!