Refinery Margins and Operations

The global market environment for refiners continues to be dynamic leading to both opportunities and challenges to remain competitive. Refiners in some regions have come under increased market pressure due to sustained high crude prices as well as the export orientation of a growing number of refineries in the Middle East and emerging economies in Asia. Another more dramatic development has been the rise in tight oil production in North America that has led to a fundamental change in the crude balance and a shift in crude movements around the globe. In addition, demand for fuels continues to accelerate in emerging regions while more modest growth is projected in developed regions driven primarily by distillate and offset by declining gasoline demand in some areas. Furthermore, refiners must also comply with tighter fuel quality regulations as well as continued renewable mandates. This session covers a range of strategies for refiners to improve refinery margins by optimizing existing assets in areas such as fractionation, hydrogen management, energy efficiency, product slate optimization, reliability, maintenance strategies, blending and advanced control. It will also look at options to make strategic investments and Oil-Gas price gap to take advantage of market opportunities including refining-petrochemical integration options.