Opportunity
Crudes Conference
Crudes Conference
This session provides a look into impacts and implications of geopolitical tensions, OPEC+ dominance, demand peak accelerated by the pandemic as well as emerging carbon-neutral/offset crudes, and business sustainability.
As in so many sectors the pandemic has changed the outlook for oil refining and petrochemicals. The long -term demand for refined products and chemicals has become increasingly uncertain. The Biden administration is committed to speeding up the transition away from fossil fuels and has set ambitious carbon reduction goals…and more.
This presentation will discuss the risks and challenges faced by the US energy industry from—policy changes in the Biden Administration--geopolitical uncertainties—challenges to infrastructure development from legal, regulatory and social opposition—challenges from policy goals to transition to fossil fuel alternatives and meeting climate change targets.
From COVID demand impacts to petrochemicals emphasis to climate-change initiatives, leading to increasing commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potential ‘peak refining’, the world’s refining industry is facing exceptional short and long-term challenges.
The presentation will discuss the medium-term outlook for global refining, comparing capacity additions with closures in a post-COVID world. Looking longer term, a rapid trend to refineries that emphasize high petrochemical yields and integration is likely to coincide with a determination to decarbonize along with reduced demand for refiners’ traditional bulk-product lifelines: gasoline, diesel and jet. We are already seeing peak refining in some regions, portending a global decline in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the paper will ‘set the scene’ by pointing to where refining investment is most likely to continue, and where it is most likely to contract. It will also discuss how these changes might create new "opportunity crudes" in the future.
Oil refiners are facing an increased threat from mandates to reduce carbon emissions. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and similar programs in development, are propelling our industry to deliver progressively lower carbon intensity (CI) fuel. Most of the CI reduction regulations have targeted on-road transportation fuels, which has led to developments in biodiesel and Renewable Diesel infrastructure. Recent proposed legislation is directed at aviation fuels which has led to considerable interest in a sister of renewable diesel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)… and more.
This presentation will provide an overview of the renewables programs that have been promulgated in North America and how some refiners are approaching this “new” reality.
While globally-recognised frameworks for evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are well established, energy producers are finding there is no existing framework that will allow for validating production emissions against peers in the marketplace. Sustainability-conscious energy producing companies invest in a multitude of technologies, processes and applications to drive transformative and market-leading reductions in carbon emissions across their value chain… and more.
This presentation will discuss Intertek CarbonClearTM and CarbonZeroTM programs, which are created to support companies to authentically communicate reductions and carbon neutrality to consumers and differentiate their product in the market.
e refining investment is most likely to continue, and what kinds of processes, where it is most likely to contract and what actions refiners will need to take to remain viable.Speakers will explore challenges and opportunities in oil selection and procurement, US shale recovery, Brazilian pre-salt crudes, imports/exports, and infrastructure/logistics.
EAI, Inc. (Energy Analysts International) draws on some of its latest products and endeavors with clients across the North America Upstream and Downstream sides of the business to provide insights and plausible outlooks reshaping the industry. Insights into the re-emergence of the U.S. shale industry with company and asset consolidation, increasing efficiencies in drilling and production, logistical build-out and price recovery. U.S. West Coast downstream business insights and response to Low Carbon fuel initiatives.
The presentation will discuss how the combination of these factors may impact the role of U.S. shale production in both domestic and foreign markets.During 2020, the Pre-salt layer was responsible for 68% of oil production in Brazil. When the majority of Brazilian crude oil production was from the Campos Basin, typical crudes were considered high TAN (Total Acid Number) and nitrogen contents, but low sulfur. As production of crude oils from Pre-salt layer rises, the quality of Brazilian crudes blends improves. The Pre-salt layer increases Brazilian crude oil production and quality characteristics, leading to higher production of middle distillates, …and more.
As Brazilian pre-salt crude cargoes take an international stage because of desirable qualities, this presentation will share with global refiners four key Pre-salt developments as the country shifts from post-salt grades: pre-salt area and characteristics, production evolution and forecasts, crude oil properties, and cut main properties.The global pandemic not only changed fuel demand, but also provided laser focus on reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions while energy demand is increasing. Globally, there is more refining capacity than demand can support, and even more capacity is yet to come online in Asia. Demand profiles are being impacted by population changes, fuels demand movement, and political drivers, all of which put refining capacity at risk. Financial uncertainties increase the complexity in meeting product forward demand shifts …and more.
This presentation will consider, from a high level, the dynamics that must be addressed in oil trading, including transparent quality considerations, impact of properties beyond gravity, sulfur, and concarbon on securing crudes and achieving optimal refining utilization, and how reliability must become an integral part of crude purchasing. Examples of these procurement issues will be provided, along with options to further align crude traders with refining operators to achieve optimal profitability throughout the supply chain.
The global crude complex underwent widespread changes in recent years. Changing production, imports/exports, onshore midstream infrastructure, crude pricing differentials, and regulatory changes all played critical roles in defining North American oil markets throughout the pandemic. US and Canadian crude production flows went on a wild roller coaster ride following the early-2020 price crash, while unplanned issues kept throwing turns at the recovery. Both areas are on a path to recovery and seek export infrastructure to bring crude to foreign markets…and more.
This presentation will focus changes on production and midstream infrastructure that impact import and export trends as well as the North American supply chain evolving with the energy transition and changing regulations.
This session addresses urgent issues regarding future of renewable diesel and bitumen productions, refinery-petrochemical integration, and crude-to-chemicals.
The overall impact of IMO 2020, Covid-19 and the closure of refineries has increased the benefit of bitumen expertise and specialization. The question is who will produce bitumen in the future?
This presentation will focus on European bitumen demand and production amid closures of many capacities. It will discuss regional shortage and seasonality of consumption in each country. The supply equation is governed by low environmental footprints, renewables, recycling, and other factors.
Government Policy is the only reason Renewable Diesel (RD) projects are being built/are in service today; but if we were to look to the past successes of the United States’ corn-based ethanol industry, RD could build off of those successes and fulfill the promises its predecessor (ethanol) never could …as long as the RD industry does not make the same mistakes…and more.
This presentation will walk the listeners through these pit falls of the ethanol industry and will speak to the difference inherently between ethanol and RD and speak to where the RD industry needs to grow to truly compete with petroleum derived diesel and jet fuel.
While new global demand paradigms ?declining global gasoline demand and abundant natural gas and LNG ?will require adjustment to the product spreads that have underpinned the current refining environment, a wave of opportunity crudes has added complexity to the planning and crude sourcing process, further complicating profit maximization. Of particular interest are light tight oils (LTOs), often lighter and sweeter, useful for the increasing low sulfur marine bunker fuels demand, can be rich in naphtha. These same LTOs also underpin other key aspects of the refining business, abundant with favorable pricing…and more.
This presentation will address how refiners can leverage the excess naphtha, particularly the light naphtha found in LTOs, and diversify into petrochemicals and generate octane barrels through KBR’s unique and proven technologies, aligning the plants with future refined product demands. The technologies discussed in this paper include KBR’s; ROSE® Solvent Deasphalting technology, MAXOFINTM Dual riser-high olefins production FCC technology, SCORETM Steam Cracking technology, K-COT® FCC based
Crude Oil to Chemicals (COTC) represents the latest major shift in the degree of refinery-petrochemical integration. Key drivers for COTC projects include the objective to maximize profitability from crude oil refining and to balance supply/demand dynamics between fuel and petrochemicals particularly in light of consensus around “peak oil” demand over the next two decades. There are several approaches to configuring COTC refineries…and more.
The presentation will discuss key drivers for COTC complexes built in Asia, different COTC approaches to refinery petrochemical integration, using proven technologies, employing new technologies under development, supply impact of COTC capacity additions, implications for the U.S. refining and petrochemical Industry, and possible strategies for the U.S. refining and petrochemical industry.
Plants today are safer and have a lower environmental impact than in the past, while simultaneously the quality of the refined product they produce has improved to meet more stringent quality and environmental specifications. But today’s refiners are not sitting still with regards to sustainability. With the increased focus to reduce environmental impacts from reducing carbon and water footprints, refiners are rising to the challenge in a variety of ways... and more.
This presentation will highlight both industry macro-trends in moving to a more sustainable future and specific OPEX projects that improve operations and reliability while improving environmental footprint. Project examples include heat transfer efficiency preservation to minimize energy requirements and lower scope 1 CO2 emissions, improving crude oil contaminant removal and dehydration to reduce energy and reprocessing requirements, and providing in-house utility services to increase wastewater recycling and reduce scope 3 CO2 emissions.
This session focuses on the latest technologies adopted in improvements in operations and environmental footprints, meeting sustainability goals via refining efficiency and crude selection (e.g., carbon neutral/offset crudes), crude quality monitoring, and optimization of renewable diesel production.
Energy companies globally have prioritized Sustainability in both short- and long-term strategies.The reality that environmental, social, and governmental (ESG) concerns are now in focus, results in sustainability goals directly linked to the UN SDGs for scope 1 (ESG directly caused by the producing facilities), scope 2 (ESG indirectly-use of utilities) and scope 3 (ESG for whole Value Chain – including consumption of products). The challenge is that the hydrocarbon-based commodities are by their very nature prospective generators of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that the ESG movement is targeting… and more.
This presentation will discuss how IIOT and big data analytics can help energy companies to meet their SDG goals and the new reporting requirements. Major topics include refiners' sustainability value drivers, value of sustainability, refining sustainability initiatives, crude oil impact on sustainable optimization, and CO2 modelling of refinery and network.
Sustainability trends are key drivers for the expanded use of vegetable oils, animal fats and other alternative feedstocks for many refineries. While this trend is taking flight in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing emissions, it is also important to enhance safety, reliability, and maximize profitability in these plants. Renewable processes can create challenges from relatively severe operating conditions, corrosion, high variability in feed quality, as well as validated data for regulatory reporting-making the need for process optimization crucial.
This presentation will discuss digital transformation strategies which meet the unique challenges of renewable diesel plants as well as equipment selection.
At present, refineries must be flexible enough to respond immediately to crude oil changes and deviations in product demands as a result of the changing global economy. A major strategy in achieving this goal is to effectively utilize NN-based dynamic optimization powered by real-time process analyzers data. Efficient refinery optimization includes a complex of different components. Under proper operation conditions, each component will increase the process efficiency of the refinery … and more.
This presentation will disclose Modcon's novel solution, which is based on NN dynamic optimization, to increase the margin via reduction in feedstock costs, decrease in operating expenses and increase in product revenue. It will also focus the benefits of integration of feedstock characterization, thermodynamic simulation, and the analyzer feedback that allows the simulated digital twin to continuously be updated to highest possible efficiency of the process at lowest cost.
If not managed correctly, the blending of incompatible hydrocarbon streams can lead to a variety of transportation, storage and upgrading challenges. Incompatibility will most commonly manifest in the form of precipitated asphaltenes in the blended stream, or asphaltenic deposits on the equipment being used to process the blended stream. Crude oil incompatibility can also increase the stability of water in oil emulsions, presenting a significant challenge to refinery energy consumption, equipment fouling, crude throughput, waste-water compliance, and asset integrity… and more.
This presentation will discuss a new predictive analytical model that is useful for predicting the complex non-linear relationships for asphaltene stability in a wide range of crude oil and VLSFO blends. The method can rapidly evaluate the stability of numerous blends with high accuracy and precision allows for diminished risk when insourcing opportunity crudes and provides guidance on how to safely blend various streams.
Experts will share their knowledge in contaminant monitoring and control, fouling and corrosion prevention, and incompatibility and blending strategies.
In 2020 and continuing into 2021, several refineries purchased and blended heavy fuel oil into their raw crude for processing due to the low cost of these heavy streams. This practice was in response to oil-market volatility and reduced refinery utilization. Many plants were looking for novel means to improve profitability. Feed analyses were utilized to assess the properties of the fuel oils that could contribute to processing issues, such as asphaltene compatibility, and potential salt formation from hydrogen sulfide scavengers… and more.
This presentation will summarize the problems encountered with processing of heavy streams mixed with raw crude, the analytical work used to identify potential problems and steps taken to ensure uninterrupted operations.
In the past, the only credits bankable for crude unit fouling mitigation was for avoidance of reduction in crude charge. Reasons for the fouling included primarily asphaltene destabilization and precipitation with solids in crude preheat exchangers, thereby resulting pressure drop increase and loss of heat transfer efficiency. Technologies to manage this fouling include: 1) changes in crude slate, 2) improve desalter operations, 3) change in exchanger designs, 4) use of solvent wash, 5) cleaning both online and offline, and 6) use antifoulants… and more.
This presentation will examine whether additional credits are needed to justify some fouling control methods in light of the renewed interest in managing Green House Gases (GHG) and accessing carbon credits.
Deposit formation in heat exchangers during petroleum processing in refineries is common. This deposition results in: heat loss, flow restriction and eventually unplanned shutdown. There are numerous mechanisms for solid deposit formation including: asphaltenes instability, presence of inorganics, polymerization of unsaturated compounds and possible excessive thermal treatment of crude. These mechanisms my occur independently and/or concurrently and play a significant role in exchanger fouling. Many studies have shown that there are strong interactions between clays and asphaltenes… and more.
This presentation will offer evidence that asphaltenes after interaction with clays, may play a significant role in heat exchanger fouling during refinery operation of both light and heavy oils.
The boundary layer emulsion (aka rag layer) is the emulsion at the interface between the oil layer and bulk water in the desalter. This emulsion negatively impacts desalting efficiency, dehydration, solids removal, and oil under-carry … and more.
This presentation will reveal a new technology that resolves this emulsion to improve desalting performance and crude flexibility. The new technology allows the refinery to quantify the performance penalty present in their specific desalter due to the presence of this emulsion. Field data in the presentation will show the performance penalty of the boundary layer emulsion is significant across a wide range of crude slates, from light to heavy. Improved desalter performance is readily attainable by implementing the new technology.
In a refinery operation, the profitability margin is increased when heavy crude fractions are blended with light crude without affecting its processability. High asphaltene content in heavy oils can affect the Desalter operation by strong water emulsions with asphaltene, fouling in heat exchangers means excess fuel firing and emissions, and/or coking issues during processing. If this happens, refineries can lose more than the advantage of purchasing the heavy crudes… and more.
This presentation will disclose a quick and accurate method for crude oil blend compatibility (K Model). which is developed by coefficients obtained by regression analysis between the ratios of physical parameters of known crude oils and composite compatibility measure determined from multiple compatibility test results of the known crude oils. Based on the innovation, a web-based software is developed which runs over internet and predicts results rapidly This enables feeding compatible and healthy diet to refinery to maintain equipment health, energy and environment.
