For the global refining industry, the challenges ahead will come from numerous directions—volatile oil prices, poor-to-meager demand growth, new and upcoming mandates for ultra-clean and high-quality fuels, required reductions in plant waste discharge and air emissions, the expanding role of biofuels in the energy mix, and environmental concerns over greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, refiners must satisfy traditional objectives, such as the need to provide steady fuel supply to consumers, the constant drive to save energy and improve efficiency, and the need for refinery upkeep to maintain safe and reliable operations. On the financial side, refiners must maintain adequate operating cash flows to secure crude supply and to fund revamps and expansions in order to keep up with the competition.

In the next decade or so, environmental issues addressing climate change and CO₂ emissions will determine the sustainability of many refiners since the impending regulations pose direct impacts on their financial performance and market competition. The world is counting down to the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in December, where leaders will try to agree upon a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Such a commitment—which would require binding participation from all countries involved—could signal major changes for businesses in energy-producing countries. The following table summarizes GHG emissions rules around the world, except Russia, non-EU Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

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