Strategies to Improve Refinery Margins

The current global and US market environment for refiners is very challenging, with the industry suffering low utilizations due to reduced demand and margin compression. As ethanol supply increases, demand for refinery-based gasoline will decrease. Collapse in clean/dirty spreads, and weakening of light/heavy differentials also contribute to lower margins. This session will discuss the strategies for survival that will drive future opportunities, with refiners needing to understand the position of their assets in the extended value chain against local and international competitors under various market landscapes. Changes that can be made in fractionation, hydrogen management, energy, unit rationalization, product slate optimization, reliability, catalyst/chemicals, maintenance strategies, blending, advance control, environmental, operating parameters etc. will be discussed to improve the margins at low /no cost.