Q&A Questions in Town Hall Meetings
Order 2024 conference proceedings.
The following questions have been submitted. If you are interested in entering your question(s), please click here.
SESSION (1): OCT. 28 MORNING: Challenges and Opportunities to Meet the Energy Trilemma: Impacts, Implications, and Insights
- A Global Regional Comparison and Opportunity Assessment of Trilemma Competitiveness (Robert Snell of The Quaker Group)
- Breaking down the Energy Transition (Austin Lin of Wood Mackenzie)
- TMX and Beyond: Addressing the Energy Trilemma with Canadian Heavy Crude (Dinara Millington of 17Insight)
- Optimizing Refineries for the Energy Trilemma: Advanced Technologies (Gregory Shahnovsky of Modcon Systems)
- TBA (Matthew Goitia of Peaker Energy)
Town Hall Meeting Questions:
- In an increasingly competitive environment, what are the key attributes that global refiners need to sustain business? How important are the following attributes: accessing steady supplies of inexpensive crudes; adopting advanced technologies to maintain reliable plant operations, being flexible in making in-demand refined products, and staying vigilant in decarbonization?
- Supply peak vs. demand peak: which will come first for the oil market?
- What lies ahead in the fossil-fuel phase-out amid crude disruptions due to geopolitical tensions?
- Your questions…
SESSION (2): OCT. 28 AFTERNOON: Ensuring Reliable Crude Supply and Blends Compatibility
Presentation titles and speakers:
- Heavy Crude Oil Supply and Pricing (Ed Scardaville of Baker & O'Brien)
- Actual Quality of Brazilian Crudes (Alexandre de Oliveira Gomes of Petrobras)
- Crude and Bio-Oil Compatibility (Scott Sayles of Becht)
- Thermodynamic Approach to Evaluate Compatibility of Crude Oil Blends (Asok Kumar Tharanivasan of KBC, a Yokogawa Company)
- Feed Flex, Digital Service of Opportunity Crude Blending (David Crochet and Alex Park of Nalco Water/Ecolab)
- Managing Operational Calm in the Face of Crude Supply Unrest (Rob Gutierrez of Veolia)
Town Hall Meeting Questions:
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- What roles will sanctioned producers—i.e., Iran, Russia, and Venezuela—play in future global production and supply of affordable crudes?
- How do the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East tensions affect global oil trades?
- Do you see a long-term reorientation of oil flows amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine (e.g., more Russian oil to China and India, more North American oil to Europe)?
- How will the commissioning of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline in May 2024 impact the US (PADD 2, 3, and 5) and Asian refineries now and future?
- Your questions…
SESSION (3): OCT. 29 MORNING: Quality of Cost-effective Grades and Processing Optimization
Presentation titles and speakers:
- A Unique Approach to Advanced Crude Management Using AI through Topology and NIR Analysis (Didier Lambert of Topnir Systems)
- BPCL BPMARRK®-Aspen Hysys® Integrated Digital Twin Model to Optimize Operational Performance and Achieve Sustainability in Feedstock Flexibility (Pranab Kumar Rakshit of Bharat Petroleum)
- Processing Conventional and Unconventional Crudes - Identifying and Dealing with Issues Associated with Production Field Additives (Sam Lordo of Becht)
- Optimizing Carbon Footprint when Processing Crude Contaminated with Filterable Solids (Nigel Hilton of Dorf Ketal)
- Maximize Profits Safely with Predictive Corrosion Management (Attila Gajdacsi of Emerson)
Town Hall Meeting Questions:
- What are the best places in refinery operations to deal with fouling and corrosion: crude procurement, desalter?
- How can a crude oil composition analysis be utilized to secure cost-effective crudes and aid in modifying downstream refining processes?
- What role can the IIoT play in crude management?
- What treatment technologies are available to increase crude-feed flexibility?
- Your questions…
SESSION (4): OCT. 29 AFTERNOON: Low Carbon-intensity Oils, Alternative Feedstocks, and Petrochemical Production
Presentation titles and speakers:
- Carbon Intensity Modelling (Randy Segato of Haverly Systems)
- Crude CI as a Decarbonization Lever for Refineries (Paul Cannizzo of Solomon Insight)
- Industrial Experience with Topsoe's Renewable Fuels Technology and Key Benefits (Henrik Rasmussen of Topsoe)
- Detailed Characterization of FCC Products from Co-processing Biocrudes with Petroleum (Yi Zhang of CanmetENERGY)
- Pyrolysis Oil from Plastic Waste and Hydrogenation of Captured CO2 to E-methanol (Charalampos Panagopoulos of Hellenic Petroleum)
Town Hall Meeting Questions:
- How important will low-CI/carbon-neutral crudes be in refinery decarbonization?
- What roles will carbon tax and carbon price play in CI in the future?
- When will crude prices begin to reflect CI quality?
- What avenues are available to lower the CI of a crude?
- Do you see the processing of low-CI/carbon-neutral crudes as an effective strategy for refiners to lower Scope 3 emissions? (Note: Scope 3 emissions encompass all indirect emissions that are not covered under Scope 2 and arise throughout the value chain of the reporting company, including emissions from both upstream and downstream activities.)
- Do you see carbon offsets remaining a viable solution to lower the CI of a crude given pushback by environmentalists and other groups?
- What are the market implications of the increasing demand for low-CI crudes?
- How will the pursuit of low-CI crudes compare in different regions of the world?
- How is carbon-intensity benchmarking likely to affect upstream investment decisions?
- What roles will crude oil play in the fuel transformation and as part of the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS)?
- Will food vs. fuel competition impede the growth of biofuels, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel?
- Will bio/renewable feed coprocessing in FCCUS play a major role in refinery decarbonization?
- Do you see more refiners revamping existing hydroprocessing capacity to produce renewable diesel (RD) and/or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)?
- With the increasing production of biofuels using hydroprocessing, will more refineries turn to electrolysis plants for H2 production?
- Outside of hydroprocessing units, what other refinery units do you see as being viable routes to yield bio/renewable fuels?
- Does the co-processing of bio-oils and biocrudes with traditional petroleum feedstocks present unique challenges for heat exchangers in refineries?
- Your questions…
