OAg006
The Economics and Technology of Petroleum Refining

Course Overview

This course presents an introduction to petroleum refining technology and economics. The focus is on transportation fuels refineries; however, petrochemical production and biofuels are also discussed. The first part of the program includes an overview of crude oil and petroleum products. This is followed by a description of refinery process technology. Key refining technologies are described, such as crude oil distillation, heavy oil conversion options, hydro-treating, and catalytic reforming.

quick glance

Duration

3 days

Training mode

Hybrid (Physical/Virtual)

Category

OIL + GAS

Location

Dubai
Abuja

Date

18th - 20th June 2023 (Dubai)
25th - 27th April 2023 (Abuja)

Info

Although oil refineries have many similarities, each refinery is customized to most profitably supply a specific market. Profitable refinery operations involve many economic decisions, such as crude oil selection and production planning. These are essential business processes critical for maintaining refinery competitiveness. The course also includes a case study example of a new refinery project. This session will include example calculations of capital costs, operating costs, and project economics.

Course Content
  • Crude oil

    • Understanding crude oil reserves and characteristics is therefore important.
    • World-wide crude supply
    • Crude oil pricing
    • Future production trends Petroleum products
    • Environmental concerns are resulting in increasingly stringent transportation fuels specifications, and this has a significant impact on refinery operations. This session will review product consumption trends and key specifications.
    • Product and demand trends – Gasoline, Distillate, Fuel oil
    • Product specifications – Gasoline, Jet fuel, Diesel and Fuel oil
    • Product pricing – Refining centers, Import/ export parity

     Crude Oil Quality – A discussion of crude oil composition and properties is presented in this session

    • Crude oil composition – Typical elemental breakdown, Hydrocarbon types
    • Bulk crude oil properties – API gravity, Sulfur content, Distillation range, Other important properties

    Refinery process technology – This is an overview of process technology, with a focus on heavy oil conversion options. The range of refinery process technology will be discussed. Separation

    • Distillation fundamentals
    • Atmospheric distillation
    • Vacuum distillation
    • Gas plants Conversion Processes
    • Hydrocracking
    • Fluid catalytic cracking
    • Delayed coking
    • Fluid coking
    • Visbreaking
    • Solvent deasphaltings
    • Resid hydrocracking Upgrading Processes
    • Hydrotreating
    • Catalytic reforming
    • Isomerization
    • Alkylation Supporting Processes
    • Acid gas removal
    • Sulfur recovery
    • Hydrogen production
    • Benzene Reduction
    • Utilities and offsites
    • Product blending

     The technology is described along with important feedstock characteristics and typical product yields.

     Refinery types and complexity – Refineries vary in type and complexity depending on many factors such as market demand and company investment objectives.

    • Refinery types – Topping, Hydro-skimming, Cracking, Coking
    • Nelson complexity index

    Petrochemicals and Biofuels – A number of refineries around the world produce petrochemicals in addition to transportation fuels. The technologies involved in producing these products are discussed. An overview of biofuels is also presented.

    • Petrochemicals – Aromatics, Olefins
    • Biofuels – Ethanol, Biodiesel

     Refinery margins – Refiners use several types of refinery margins to describe their profitability. Each of these margins is described and how each is applied

    . • Gross

    • Variable
    • Net
    • Incremental

    Refinery planning -overview of refinery economics modelling which involves the linear programming technique. Refinery planning applications are then discussed in detail.

    • Linear programming
    • Crude oil assays
    • Refinery modelling
    • Planning applications
    • Crude oil evaluation
    • Production planning
    • Product blending
    • Shutdown planning
    • Configuration studies
    • Technology evaluation

     Best practices regarding model building, crude oil evaluation, and other key economics planning applications are also discussed.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, participants should be able to:

  • Understanding where hydrocarbons come from and how they are formed
  • Discuss how oil & gas deposits are explored and evaluated
  • The process of transformation from raw oil and gas to the products used commercially
  • Examine the risks inherent in the oil and gas industry
  • Evaluate the economics of oil and gas as a commodity
  • Trace the hydrocarbons from the subsurface to the actual end user
  • Investigate some of the recent tools to help extract the optimal economics from oil and gas deposits
Who should attend?

This course is designed for anyone who needs to know more about the aviation fuels market including those working in refining, marketing, distribution, trading, operations, risk management, purchasing, credit, finance, contracts and IT within an oil company, airline, airport or aviation authority.