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Volume 42 Issue 2
OAPEC Study on
OAPEC Secretariat General recently launched
a study entitled “Improving Performance and
Profitability in the Oil Refining Industry”. The study
tackled challenges facing the oil refining industry,
which contribute to reducing its profitability. It also
enlisted the best solutions to face these challenges
through applying programmes on improving
performance to enable the refineries produce high
quality products at the lowest costs while maintaining
the highest margins of profit.
The study made a number of conclusions
including:
• Refineries’ performance is affected by a number
of factors including the refinery specifications,
the state’s economic situation, and the business
environment in which the refinery operates.
• Increasing attention to improve production units’
operation circumstances due to their vital role in
improving a refinery’s profitability.
• Increasing attention to apply health and safety
programmes, and maximize equipment utilization
due to their role in improving the safety of the
production process and avoiding potential losses
as a result of unscheduled emergency failures.
• The importance of boosting integration between
the refining and petrochemicals industries due
to its role in improving the profitability of both
industries.
• Boosting cooperation between oil refining
companies and Arab scientific research institutes,
as well as, supporting scientific research activities
on new technical inventions which contribute to
improving the refining performance, especially
downstream and hydrotreating processes
that enable refineries to produce oil products
conforming to domestic and international
environmental requirements.
• It is necessity to meet the environmental
legislations’ requirements especially on product
specifications, and measures to limit pollutants
resulting from the refining process whether gas or
liquid, as well as disposing solid waste in a safe
way. This is in order to reduce the impacts of these
legislations on the refinery profitability.
• In order to ensure the success of profitability
improvement programmes, there should be a
constant monitoring of some standards relevant
to the refinery performance, like appraising
production plan implementation, workplace
injuries average, energy consumption, and the
various operating costs.
• The importance of cooperation between national
and international oil companies in executing
joint ventures due to its role in boosting expertise
exchange, risk sharing, and technology transfer
among partners.
Improving Performance and Profitability in the Oil
Refining Industry
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