Options For Increasing Refinery Profitability

Introduction

This paper will focus on four areas where leading oil refiners are implementing projects to improve their profitability. These areas are; increased feedstock flexibility to reduce crude oil costs; reduced energy consumption to lower operating costs; improved planning models (linear programming models) for better economic decisions; and finally, integration of refinery and petrochemical facilities to increase competitive advantage.

Conclusions

Leading refiners have significantly improved their profitability by improvement projects in areas of key economic importance. This paper presents key aspects of the improvement areas, and how benefits are achieved in these areas.