Exxon Mobil to spend $1 billion to make clean diesel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it would spend $1 billion to upgrade three of its largest oil refineries to produce clean burning diesel fuel.

The upgrades, which will increase the supply of ultra-low sulfur diesel by 6 million gallons per day, come at a time when poor refinery profit margins have most refiners scaling back or canceling previously announced projects.

Exxon Mobil said that its two largest U.S. refineries — the 567,000 bpd refinery in Baytown, Texas, and the 503,000 bpd complex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — would get the upgrades.

Reuters