EPC Moscow Week 2017 - Recap

Moscow Refining, Gas & Petrochemicals Week

One of the most anticipated events for the Russian & CIS refining and petrochemical industries – the Moscow Refining, Gas & Petrochemicals Week, organised by Euro Petroleum Consultants (ЕРС) took place on 18-22 September 2017. Moscow Week includes three conferences:

GTCC – 2^nd Russia & CIS Gas to Chemicals Conference & Exhibition

RPTC – 16^th Russia & CIS Petrochemicals Technology Conference & Exhibition

RRTC – 17^th Russia & CIS Refining Technology Conference & Exhibition

EPC has organised market leading conferences for the past 17 years, their events have gained an enviable reputation, providing a unique platform for networking and in-depth discussion on the most important issues and challenges that face the oil and gas industry.

Colin Chapman, EPC President, gave the opening speech at Moscow Week.  “We live in a rapidly changing world, and access to the latest international developments in the field of production technologies is an indispensable condition for successful operation and business development ", said Mr. Chapman.

GTCC

The main theme of the GTCC conference was the various ways to monetise Russian gas, including its preparation and conversion to ammonia, urea, methanol, olefins and liquid fuels.

Elena Shpinel, EPC Business Development Director presented an overview of the impacts on the Russian gas market and gas conversion to chemical products over the past year: she reviewed trends influencing export of Russian gas, export projects updates, and analysed rates of gas production and supply to the local market. Elena also focused on the new ammonia and methanol production projects, and gave a status update on current projects.

The first GTCC session continued with presentations from Gazpromneft Scientific and Research Center and EuroChem discussing new production lines and technologies. Artem Vlasov, Senior R&D Expert, Department of Gas Business Development Project Support, presented information on Gazprom Neft’s gas business technology classification. An insightful round table discussion brought together the producers - Gazpromneft SRC, EuroChem, Lukoil, the research institutes – NIIK “Design and Research Institute of Urea and Organic Synthesis Products”, and the licensors - Haldor Topsoe and Honeywell UOP.

Linde’s presentation by Danil Efremov, Business Development Director of petrochemical plants in Russia and the former USSR countries, spoke about the revolutionary technology of natural gas conversion to ethylene - methane oxidative dimerization, developed by Siluria Technologies - this generated a lot of interesting discussion amongst the conference delegates.   

Also during the first day, representatives of foreign licensors - CB&I, Haldor Topsoe, KBR, Stamicarbon and Linde covered gas treatment technologies and gas monetisation via conversion to ammonia and fertilisers.   

The final session of the day included speakers from Uralchem, NIIK and Stamicarbon presenting updates on current and future gas processing projects as well as joint projects with the above companies, resulting in an excellent exchange of views.

Projects and technologies for conversion gas to methanol, as well as a review of the methanol global market, were the main topics of GTCC’s second day. The speakers included SOCAR Methanol, ILF, Honeywell UOP, Haldor Topsoe, Methanol Institute and S&P Global Platts.

There was high interest in the presentation from Vladimir Mishin, Honeywell UOP Senior Regional Manager, which covered solutions for increasing efficiency in gas monetisation using the Methanol to Olefins technology.

RPTC

The 16th Russia & CIS Petrochemicals Technology Conference & Exhibition followed after the end of GTCC, focusing on industry developments and important projects.  Technology reviews and market forecasts were presented along with production of olefins, polyolefins, aromatics, and current issues associated with the integration of refining and petrochemical industries.  

The conference was opened by Ekaterina Kalinenko, EPC Project Director, who presented a comprehensive review of development opportunities in the Russian petrochemical industry.

Ksenia Karetina, Head of the Analytical Center, SIBUR, gave her thoughts on the recent disruption in correlation between oil price and global economic growth, resulting in environmental issues becoming a significant new trend. Ms. Karetina also discussed the status of the Zapsib-2 Project, showing a video on its construction progress.

IHS Markit representatives' presentations are always a highlight at EPC conferences. This year, Mr. Stevenson, Managing Director of Chemical Consulting, gave food for thought to the delegates by sharing ways to overcome the new and rapidly changing challenges affecting the petrochemicals industry.

Representatives of EPC, UOP and Schneider Electric took part in the session devoted to the important and current topic of refining and petrochemical integration.  Valentin Kotlomin, EPC Director, Strategic Studies & Downstream Economics said: "Oil refiners around the world understand the importance of building a sustainable business that is maximally protected from price fluctuations and falling demand for fuel products and the integration into petrochemical production is a natural, appropriate step to achieve the above".

Day One of RPTC ended with a cocktail reception sponsored by ExxonMobil where the delegates enjoyed a panoramic view of Moscow by night and took full advantage of the networking in a relaxed and social atmosphere.

Day Two began with a review of petrochemical projects in the region; representatives of EPC, LUKOIL-Nizhegorodniinefteproekt and Acryl Salavat shared progress updates. 

The last presentation of the conference is worthy of a special mention.  Viktor Seredinin, Director of Acryl Salavat, shared his knowledge and expertise in the construction of the acrylic acid production complex at Salavat, Republic of Bashkortostan.    

Linde, KBR, CRI Catalyst, Sinopec, Borealis, CB&I Novolen, GTC Technology and Axens gave presentations covering the latest developments in the production of olefins, polyolefins and aromatics.

RRTC

Traditionally the most popular event of the Week is RRTC and this year was no exception. The 17th Russia & CIS Refining Technology Conference & Exhibition gathered representatives from leading producers Titan, Afipsky Refinery, Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan, Sibur, Lukoil, Mozyr Refinery, Taneco, Ukranafta and subsidiaries of Rosneft and Gazprom neft.  

EPC, Nexant and EY gave presentations on important industry and market development trends. Gazprom neft and Rosneft-Novokuibyshevsk Refinery presented a review of major modernisation projects in Russia & CIS.  Axens and Gazprom Dobycha Astrakhan gave a joint case study presentation on the Astrakhan Gas Plant Isomerisation project.

2017 was declared a year of Ecology in Russia, therefore special focus was given at the event to the production of clean fuels as well as the post 2020 impact on oil product demand after the implementation of the bunker fuel quality regulation. Speakers from Rosneft, Shell Global Solutions, EPC and the independent international price agency Argus shared their thoughts on the subject. Andrey Gorodov, Deputy Head of Technologies and Production Development Division, Rosneft, discussed their approach to production and marketing of bunker fuels providing useful insight into how a producer is dealing with these current challenges.

GTC Technology, KBR, Shell Global Solutions highlighted the opportunities to be found through refining and petrochemicals integration.   Specialists from Haldor Topsoe, Albemarle Catalysts, SIE Neftehim and Porocel discussed the latest refining catalyst developments – this important topic will be covered in-depth at the Russia & CIS Catalyst Technology Conference – RU-CAT.  This event is also organised by EPC (Moscow, April 2018), and will give catalyst suppliers, licensors, contractors, service providers and operating companies the perfect platform to learn about the latest developments in this part of the sector.

Alexander Shakun, General Director of SIE Neftehim, gave an outstanding speech on the modern gasoline quality requirements and ways to meet them, including the innovative C7 fraction isomerisation technology.

The next session, was full of industry innovations from licensors offering alkylation technologies - KBR, Dow, DuPont and CB&I.  Recently we have witnessed real technological breakthroughs in this area with the introduction of processes using solid catalysts, as well as ion-exchange fluids instead of traditional catalysts such as sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid.

EPC, WIKA Gayesco and Kelvion Thermal Solutions participated in the final session focused on equipment review. Bob Poteet, Director of Technology, WIKA Gayesco, shared methods to ensure reliable and safe operation of fixed-bed reactors via temperature control.

Moscow Week attracted 350+ attendees with 50% of the delegates being from Gas Processing Plants, Oil Companies, Petrochemical Complexes and Refiners. The event was sponsored by Albemarle, Axens, CRI Catalyst, Criterion Catalysts & Technologies, Fobos, ExxonMobil, UOP, and Shell Global Solutions. Cocktail receptions, coffee breaks and lunches provided the delegates with many networking opportunities to establish new contacts, reconnect with existing business associates and discuss shared experience.

EPC is a leading, well-established, independent consulting company covering the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors, as well as producing a series of specialised, high quality, international conferences and training seminars focusing on market trends, technological advances and business strategies for the petroleum industry.

The latest information about EPC events including the 4th Operational Excellence in Oil and Gas Production, Refining and Petrochemicals Conference and Exhibition (14^th & 15^th November 2017, Sochi) can be found at www.europetro.ru

Written by: Olga Solovyova, Conference Manager, Euro Petroleum Consultants

Originally published by Neftegaz.Ru

View the Russian version: 

https://neftegaz.ru/news/view/166034-Neftegazohimiya-i-neftepererabotka-v-Rossii-i-stranah-SNG-Semnadtsatyj-god-v-razgare#