Opportunity Crudes Conference Proceedings

Since 2008, our biennial Opportunity Crudes Conferences have been promoting the knowledge of business strategists and technical experts, to discover the latest challenges and benefits of processing price-advantaged crudes, and to network and share ideas with peers.

The 2018 Opportunity Crudes Conference: “Crude Disruptors: Accelerating Refining Changes” addresses how tightening supply had disrupted the normal oil flows worldwide, thus forcing refiners to take advantage of lesser expensive grades available in the market to sustain profitability. However, changing crude types more frequently and increasing blending of different crudes together are creating a lot of operational problems, while mandate by the International Marine Organization is requiring refiners to meet cleaner motor fuel and low-sulfur bunker requirements.

How it will benefit you

The proceeding is a collection of presentations by a diverse team of high-caliber experts who addresses urgent business and technology issues facing refiners due to production cuts by OPEC and some non-OPEC members, geopolitical tensions, and trader spats between trade partners since Jan. 2017. Our diverse team of technology experts and business strategists provide refining professionals with many years of experiences and insightful recommendations to tackle changing crudes & shifting fuel demand and identify challenges & opportunities facing the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors.

What does it include

The 2018 Opportunity Crudes Conference proceeding is organized into five major topics:

Global Oil Market Outlooks — Geopolitical Uncertainties, Growing Trade Tensions, OPEC Strategic Options, Challenges & Opportunities in Oil Trading

• The US Energy Renaissance:  Implications for Global Oil and Gas
  Guy Caruso, Senior Advisor – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
• The Growth of US Crude Exports
  Sandy Fielden, Research Director – Morningstar
• US Imports Trends Relative to Global Production
  Hillary Stevenson, Director, Oil Markets & Business Development – Genscape
• Growing Us Light Crude Exports and IMO 2020-Driven Discounts —Who Benefits?
  Charles Kemp, Vice President – Baker O'Brien
• North American Crude Business: Integrated Prospective, Insights and Outlooks.
  Joe Leto, President – Energy Analysts International (EAI)
• Status of Canadian Oil Industry — Stuck on a Sideline? 
  Dinara Millington, Vice President, Research – Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI)

Crude Quality, Contaminants, Incompatibility, and Blending

• Are Tight Oils an Opportunity or a Challenge? Quality Variability, Contaminants, Incompatibility, and Look-Alike Blends
  Harry Giles, President – PetroStorTech
• Self-Incompatibility, the Stain of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil—Blending of Tight Oil, WCS, MSW
  Irv Wiehe, President – Soluble Solutions
• Wax and Asphaltenes – Problems and Solutions
  Frederick Stubbins, Interpret Operations Manager – Intertek
• Asphaltene Compatibility Modeling of Opportunity Crudes to Enhance Processing and Profitability
  Bruce Wright, Senior Technical Engineer – Baker Hughes GE
• Desalting Opportunity Crudes Contaminated with Natural Surfactants and Solids
  James Ondyak, Global President of Refining and Petrochemicals – Dorf Ketal Chemicals
• Inline Crude Oil Blending—Making the Plan a Reality
  Gary Potten, Director Project Operations – Cameron Measurement/Schlumberger

Crude Corrosion, Fouling, and Monitoring Techniques

• Realizing the True Value of Canadian Heavy Oils through Processing Chemistry
  Parviz Rahimi, President – Upgrading Solutions
• CrudeFlex – Opportunity vs. Risk, Why Compromise
  Joel Lack, Senior Global Marketing Manager – Nalco Champion
• Benefits of Fouling Testing
  Matt Lane, Research Engineer – HTRI
• Crude Slate Cost Management via Utilization of Installed Ultrasonic Sensors
  Steve Strahan, Vice President Sales – Sensor Networks
• Use of a Naphthenic Acid Corrosion Model to Optimize Crude Blends
  Eric Vetters, President – Procorr Consulting

Flexibility of Refinery Operations & Bottoms Upgrading to Make High-Demand Products

• Butylene-Enhancing FCC Catalyst Technology to Meet Growing Alkylation Feed Demand
  Steven Gim, Regional Technical Service Manager – BASF
• Taking Advantage of Opportunity Feedstocks through Innovative Alkylation Unit Design: Technical Overview
  Stephen D. Williams, Technology Business Development Director – Lummus Technology/McDermott International
• HCAT Technology Application for Opportunity Crudes
  David Mountainland, Director Technical Services – HTI
• Higher Margins with Integration & Cost-effective SDA Schemes
  MJ Rahman, Director Resid Technology – KBR
• Tackling Imo 2020 Low-Sulfur Mandate Through Innovation in Petroleum Residua Processing
  Keng Chung, Vice President – Well Resources

Big Data Analytics & Internet of Things (IoT) in Crude Selection, Management & Refining

• The Increased Focus on Digital Transformation in Crude Oil Knowledge Management and Refining
  Hege Dammen, Consulting Manager – AVEVA
• Automation Strategies Including IIoT for Crude Feedstock Optimization
  Tim Olsen, Consultant – Emerson Automation Solutions
• At the Core of Refinery 4.0: Process Centric Simulation Models
  Michel Lenoel, Executive – Greenalyze
• Crude Oil Fingerprinting and Advanced Predictive Analytics for the Determination and Mitigation of Processing Issues
  Conrad Teran, Senior Technology Manager – Suez Water Technology & Solutions
• The Digital Process Unit: Integrating Advanced Kinetic Models into Monitoring and Control
  Nevin Whalley, Technical Service Engineer – Axens N.A.
• Digital Refinery Concepts—Crude & Vacuum Distillation Unit, a Case Study on Energy Consumption
  Ashwani Malhotra, Additional General Manager – Engineers India Ltd.

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