ExxonMobil has announced a new chemical manufacturing project in America, which will combine with other initiatives to make the largest company investment in the US to date.

Earlier this week, it revealed building has begun on an ethane cracker at its Baytown chemical and refining site, which is part of its Growing the Gulf project.

The facility will create ethylene feedstock to new performance polyethylene lines at ExonnMobil’s Mont Belvieu plastics plant, which has a capacity to produce 1.3 million tons per annum.

John Verity, president of ExonnMobil’s Chemical Company, said: “Our new ethane cracker will help us meet the growing global demand for high performance plastic products that deliver key sustainability benefits such as lighter packaging weight, lower energy consumption and reduced emissions, further enhancing our competitiveness worldwide.”

The company’s ethane cracker and Mont Belvieu equate to the firm’s largest investment in North America, and they are expected to have a huge financial benefit for the area.

It is expected they will boost regional economic activity by $870 million (£669 million) a year, while creating over $90 million in local tax revenues during a 12-month period.

They have already opened up 10,000 jobs in construction and 4,000 jobs in local communities, including 350 permanent roles.

Mr Verity stated that ExonnMobil has chosen to pursue these projects, as there is an abundance of domestically produced oil and natural gas. This has resulted in new sources of feedstock for chemical manufacturing in the US Golf for them to capitalise on.

This is, therefore, the perfect opportunity for the company to grow its manufacturing and export sector. It plans to invest more than $20 billion in the Growing the Gulf project by 2022, having begun financing the program since 2013. This initiative also includes other chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects along the eastern coast of the USA between Texas and Louisiana.

ExonnMobil believes this area of chemical manufacturing is set to expand exponentially over the next few years, which is why it has invested more than $2 million in the Community College Petrochemical Initiative in the last five years.

This is a program run by nine community colleges in the Houston area of the US that teaches high school graduates, veterans and many others important technical skills for the petrochemical industry, in an attempt to train more people to work in the sector.

This follows the news that ExxonMobil’s newly discovered resources of fuel at the Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana is likely to be more valuable than initially predicted.

It now estimates the resources to contain more than four billion oil-equivalent barrels, up from an earlier prediction of 3.2 billion barrels. As a result of this, it will support a third phase of development and consider a further two phases.

Senior vice president of ExonnMobil Corporation Neil Chapman said this will present “great value to resource owners, partners and our shareholders”.

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