The Future of Refining

Rafael Moreno Lahore from The Boston Consulting Group discusses with us main current trends in the downstream oil & gas industry.

Rafael is a BCG member of the Energy Practice and part of the WESA expert team in Downstream and Petrochemicals. Rafael is a leader in lean manufacturing and production optimisation initiatives in crude refining, value chain optimisation, energy improvement, waste reduction, debottlenecking and continuous improvement. He has experience in implementation in large IOCs and NOC. Rafael also has operational expertise having held several positions in refineries, such as FCC and Energy Business Area Manager, including utilities and power production and technological leadership in FCC and CHP improvement groups for an IOC. Prior to joining BCG, Rafael worked for the Spanish oil major CEPSA for more than 15 years in refineries mainly in Operations as Business Area Manager, Deputy Business Manager and LP Engineer. Rafael holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Sevilla Industrial School of Engineers, Master of Science in Petroleum, Engineering & Gas from the French Institute of Petroleum and has also graduated from the Management Development Programme with honors at IE Business School.

Euro Petroleum Consultants (EPC Ltd.): You will present a refining industry economic scenario overview at the IDTC 2017. In this context, would you kindly outline the current state of the international refining industry?

R. Moreno: The refining industry is continuing to experience uneven growth concentrated in specific regions. Additionally, there is a general trend of consolidation into larger (new >300 kbbl/d refineries), fewer (closures expected to continue in non-growing markets) and more complex assets with integrated petrochemical specialties. The fact that the industry is registering nearly flat growth in various markets and 70% is concentrated in the Middle East & Asia supports the saying that the industry is "moving east".

Margins are relatively strong worldwide (similar to 1Q15 and above 1Q16) and refineries are currently operating at reasonable occupation levels, however forecasts place capacity growth above demand, meaning the refining industry will be under increasing pressure as its market share of oil products decreases—in fact, nearly 15% of oil demand is already covered by non-refining products.

IMO 2020 sulfur cap is already a major disruption today, one that will have losers and winners in 2020 not only in refiners but also in shippers and oil producers, clear strategies and movement are needed.

EPC Ltd.: Do you see technical trends or innovations that would positively impact the sector?

Congratulations! Your Abstract has been Accepted for the Conference! Now What?

Your Abstract has been Accepted for the Conference! Congratulations! What should you do next?

Now you need to define your goals and key takeaways from the event. To do that, we would like to put you in the other attendees’ shoes and use this as a starting point to help you make a great impression and achieve remarkable results from your speech at the event.

Why do you normally attend conferences?

To network with professionals from your industry from all over the world and to learn something new, right? At least this is something the majority of people would say.

Other responses may include promoting my company’s products/ projects/ knowledge, building my personal brand, visiting new places or just for the experience.

On the other hand, what do you most dislike about conferences? This one’s easy – nobody likes boring presentations that are difficult to follow, and most certainly nobody likes hearing direct commercial statements about how great you are especially if this is not proven with examples.

The latter will ensure you permanently lose the attention of those people that might potentially buy from you. 

Then, how do you explain how great you really are without making commercial statements? This is also easy:

Euro Petroleum Consultants Announces New Exciting Format 2018

ME-TECH WEEK 2018 – Middle East Technology Forum

for Refining & Petrochemicals

Incorporating:

19 & 20 February ME-TECH Refining

21 & 22 February ME-TECH Petrochemicals

Since 2011, ME-TECH has been the 

essential meeting place for the Middle East Downstream Industry. Euro Petroleum Consultants are delighted to introduce a new and extended format for the event.

ME-TECH WEEK will bring together end-users and suppliers over the course of four days to exchange information on the key aspects of the refining and petrochemicals sectors making this the must-attend event for the region.

ME-TECH Refining will take place on 19 & 20 February followed by ME-TECH Petrochemicals on 21 & 22 February in Dubai. The week will include keynote speeches by high level end-users and NOCs and presentations on the latest developments by leading technology companies and solution providers.

Continuous Improvement - Key to Success

Süleyman Özmen from Shell Global Solutions shares with us his expert insight on why continuous improvement is the key for success.

Süleyman Özmen is a Vice President, Refining and Chemical Licensing in Shell Global Solutions, following roles with IFP, BP Amoco and UOP. He is known for his “Three Pentagon Model”, which provides refiners with a road map for their investment plans. He also packs in over 40 years of sector experience along with numerous qualifications, patents and technical papers. During his career, he has worked through the major challenges faced by the industry such as the unleaded gasoline mandate, the introduction of oxygenates (such as MTBE, ETBE and ethanol) to gasoline, and the trend for ultra-low levels of Sulphur in diesel (ULSD).

Euro Petroleum Consultants (EPC Ltd.): In your presentation at the IDTC 2017 - International Downstream Technology & Strategy Conference, you are going to talk about continuous improvement. How often do you see it implemented in refineries across the globe and have you seen a peak in the last few years?

S. Özmen: Continuous improvement is a characteristic shared by many of the refiners that are doing well today. The high performers are continuously planning new projects, executing them and optimising their operation. But, crucially, they do not stand still. 
As I explain in my presentation, they have a steady pipeline of new projects, so they repeatedly go through that plan–execute–operate cycle to improve their business further. Although this approach may not be new, numerous factors mean that it has become,

in recent years, more challenging than ever before. Chief among these factors is the shortage of financing; you are asking investors to spend multiple billions of dollars, so you must be able to demonstrate that you can provide a good return and reassurance that you will meet key objectives such as timeline, budget and net present value. Moreover, the geopolitical and macroenomic environments are extremely fast moving, yet your project probably will not be delivered for at least four years. How will you ensure that your chosen plan and configuration are the right ones?

EPC Ltd.: How would continuous improvement add value to your investment?

Who to meet at IDTC 2017 & BBTC 2017 in 3 weeks

There are only 3 weeks to the International Downstream Week - IDW 2017 incorporating:
17th IDTC: International Downstream Technology & Strategy Conference & 15th BBTC: International Bottom of the Barrel Technology Conference

We have made all possible arrangements to enhance networking so you can make the most out of the events. You would be able to not only benefit from listening to presentations by the leading companies in the industry but also to meet with all your prospects and possible future partners.

VIEW CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

WHO YOU CAN MEET

BAYERNOIL, CEPSA, ARAMCO, ENI, GALP ENERGIA, GRUPA LOTOS, PKN ORLEN, ORLEN LIETUVA, GUNVOR RAFFINERIE INGOLSTADT, INA, NESTE OIL, NIS GAZPROM NEFT, PDVSA INTEVEP, PETROCHEMIA-BLACHOWNIA, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, S-OIL, SARLUX REFINERY, SASOL, TUPRAS as well as leading technology, equipment and service providers.

MOBILE APP TO PRE-SCHEDULE YOUR MEETINGS

We have arranged a specialised Mobile App that will allow you to pre-schedule meetings with attendees of your choice.