2021 Annual Meeting Virtual Edition

Come meet fellow attendees in our video rooms. Great place to break the ice and interact with others at the conference.

8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
8:45 AM - 8:59 AM

Opening Remarks
Joe Gorder, Chairman, President & CEO, Valero Energy Corporation

President's Report
Chet Thompson, President & CEO, AFPM

Keynote Speaker
Peter Zeihan, Geopolitical Strategist and Author

Peter is a geopolitical strategist and critically acclaimed author who combines an expert understanding of demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security to help prepare for an uncertain future. With a keen eye toward what will drive tomorrow’s headlines, Peter uses an irreverent approach to transform today’s topics into relevant takeaways.

Executive Leadership Panel
2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges ranging from a global pandemic to extreme weather events, historic market volatility, social unrest throughout the nation, and a highly unpredictable regulatory environment.

In the face of extraordinary events, the refining, petrochemical and midstream industries never fail to demonstrate their resiliency. Join us for a discussion with industry leaders as they share their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities we’ve encountered over the last year and their outlook on the future.

Moderator:
Chet Thompson, President & CEO, AFPM

Panelists:
Mike Jennings, President & CEO, HollyFrontier Corporation
Torkel Rhenman, Executive Vice President, LyondellBasell Industries
Bob Herman, Executive Vice President, Refining, Phillips 66
Willie Chiang, Chairman & CEO, Plains All American Pipeline, LP

Networking and entertainment opportunity.

11:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Session brought to you by: Albemarle
Enabling Sustainability: Co-processing Biofuels in Existing Hydrotreaters

With a continued progression towards a sustainable future, the need for bio/renewable feed co-processing with distillate fuels in North America is becoming more apparent. This session highlights a portion of Albemarle’s experience in the last decade providing commercial solutions that have optimized the balance between guard and active catalyst beds to provide improved cycle lengths and product yields.

Session brought to you by: Nalco Water
Bringing Shareholder Value to the Story of Sustainability

The transformational impact of sustainability efforts that demonstrate and drive value.

Speakers:
Maureen Gerty
Calvin Emanuel

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
Session brought to you by: Athlon, a Haliburton Service
Chloride Salt Control for Refinery Process Streams

Session brought to you by: Suez – Water Technologies & Solutions
An Industry in Transition – Ideas to profit from being reliable, digital, & sustainable

The downstream oil & gas industry is an industry in transition. In reality, multiple significant transitions are occurring! Reduced market demand, environmental concerns, retirements, and digitalization are a lot to take in. Leaning into these transitional trends provides opportunities to take operating performance to new levels of reliable and profitable operations. Let’s discuss some ideas together about how grabbing these transitions can help your refinery.

Session brought to you by: W. R. Grace
The Future of the Most Flexible Refining Process: FCC

Broad innovation will be required to keep up with emerging trends and opportunities during this period of energy transition. What does that mean for the future of the most flexible unit in the refinery - the FCCU? Find out more about how Grace is approaching the future of fluid catalytic cracking technology.

Speakers:
Bob Riley
Matt Kirchner

1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
Session brought to you by: BASF
Navigating FCC Optimization in a Dynamic Environment

Join Alvin Chen to discover strategies to optimize your FCC operating unit.

Moderator:
Mark Schmalfeld, Global Marketing Manager, BASF Corporation

Speaker:
Dr. Alvin Chen, Global Technology Application Manager, BASF Corporation

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Session brought to you by: Honeywell, UOP
The Path Forward – The Refinery of the Future

The last year brought the most serious downturn in the history of our industry, altering the course of capital investment strategies for many oil and gas companies. Join Honeywell UOP leaders including, John Gugel, President, Honeywell UOP, for a discussion on the state of the industry and the ways refiners are charting their paths forward, with renewable fuels, petrochemical integration and fuels modernization.

1:45 PM - 2:15 PM
Session brought to you by: Technip Energies
Upgrading the FCC for Maximum Petrochemicals

A new spin on an old classic, Technip Energies is transforming the energy industry. Maximizing the production of petrochemicals from existing FCC units can help the industry navigate the ongoing energy transition. In this presentation, we will take a closer look at how FCC units built for transportation fuels are upgraded into well-oiled petrochemical producing machines through a variety of retrofit options.

Session brought to you by: Albemarle Corporation
Bio-Feedstocks FCC Co-Processing: Albemarle’s Experience

As the global shift towards reducing our carbon footprint continues, co-processing bio-feedstocks in the FCC provides an opportunity to incorporate renewable energy into everyday fuels. With high diversity in sourcing and processing of biomass used to generate bio-derived oils suitable for integration within current refining assets, custom catalyst solutions will be required to address the market push towards renewable fuels and chemicals. In this session we will discuss how Albemarle is leveraging its extensive experience in developing advanced catalyst technologies to meet the challenges of FCC co-processing of various bio-feedstocks. We will focus on what has been learned from laboratory investigations and commercial trials on the impact on FCC products of co-processing bio-feedstocks, and how these learnings can be applied in the development of catalyst solutions for FCC co-processing.


More information will be made available on the Virtual Platform.

This session sets climate change impacts into a refining setting, describing how to baseline the current situation, and how various paths forward can be evaluated based on thoughtful scientific and economic analysis to determine what is appropriate as the situation (including various drivers) evolves. In addition, we will describe how some are taking bold steps across the value chain in this new carbon landscape, including what specific aspects of refinery operations could be approached, and how some have already moved forward with biofuel production, enhanced energy management and other creative and evolving approaches.

Moderator:
Susan Grissom, Chief Industry Analyst, AFPM

Speakers:
John Beath, LLC Manager, Senior Technical Consultant and Environmental Coach, John Beath Environmental, LLC
Lynn McGuire, P.E., Senior Principal Consultant, Geosyntec Consultants
Julie Mulkerin, General Manager, Energy Transitions Strategy & Planning, Chevron
Janice DeVelasco, Vice President Environmental Health, Safety and Security, CVR Energy

Sponsored By:
Sabin Metal Corporation

Institutional investors are increasingly placing environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors at the center of their investment strategies. Join us for a discussion with investors about the factors driving ESG investing today and the impact on the refining and petrochemical industries.

Moderator:
Chet Thompson, President & CEO, AFPM

Panelists:
Paul Gooden, Portfolio Manager, Analyst, Fidelity International
Jared Mann, CFA, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman
Lewis Ropp, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, Barrow Hanley Global Investors
Robin Wehbe, Lead Investor, Harmony Capital Investors

Visit sponsor pages or networking rooms.

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Session brought to you by: Haldor Topsoe
Advancements in Vacuum Gas Oil Hydroprocessing

Current market conditions, along with increased focus on sustainable fuels, means refiners have to squeeze more profit from each barrel processed. Further improvements in Topsoe’s catalyst preparation technology has led to the development of alumina supported catalysts that rival the activity of bulk metal catalysts, at the fraction of their cost. This combination of very high activity, and lower cost, offers expanded flexibility and substantially increases profitability for the entire refinery site.

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Session brought to you by: Sabin Metal Corporation
The Carbon Negative

How much are the contaminants within your precious metal catalysts truly costing your company? What about the industry as a whole? Or the precious metal market? Join this roundtable discussion to understand the pieces of this puzzle and work towards a solution.

4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Session brought to you by: ART Hydroprocessing
Adding Value with ART Hydroprocessing Catalyst Technology

An effective customer-driven innovation process opens pathways to increased value for refiners using ART Hydroprocessing catalyst platforms. Learn more about how we leverage this process and the latest developments in Ebullating-bed Resid Hydrocracking catalysts.

Speaker:
Balbir Lakhanpal


More information will be made available on the Virtual Platform.

Tackling unconscious bias is not about monitoring your every thought for bias against every kind of person. It is about assessing the fairness and effectiveness of your decision-making to build a more inclusive, high-performing culture at work where everyone can contribute their best. Join us for a discussion with the lead author of FranklinCovey’s Unconscious Bias as she shares her expertise on how to reframe bias, cultivate connections, and create high – performing teams.


Moderator:
Sharon Watkins, Monroe Energy

Speaker:
Pamela Fuller, Lead Author of The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias, FranklinCovey

The AFPM Women in Industry sessions focus on empowering women in our industry by creating networking and training opportunities. Attendees can take advantage of opportunities to learn from industry leaders, engage and connect.

Featuring guest speaker:
Eboni Monk Adams, Director of Marketing, Advanced Refining Technologies, and author of Leading Wise: Inspirational Reflections for Corporate Leaders

Open to registered women attendees only.

Sponsored by: Albemarle

Come meet fellow attendees in our video rooms. Great place to break the ice and interact with others at the conference.

8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
8:45 AM - 8:59 AM

Opening Remarks
Chet Thompson, President & CEO, AFPM

Keynote Speaker
Chris McChesney, Author, FranklinCovey

Chris is one of the primary developers of the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) and for more than a decade, he has led FranklinCovey’s design and development of these principles. His practical experience has enabled him to test and refine the principles contained in 4DX from the boardrooms to the front lines. Join us for an interactive discussion on the principles of 4DX with a focus on leadership and safety.

AFPM Distinguished Safety Awards
Chet Thompson, President & CEO, AFPM

The Distinguished Safety Award (DSA) is AFPM’s most prestigious award. The DSA recognizes member companies that have attained an exemplary level of safety performance. Recipients are chosen by a selection committee comprised of members of the AFPM Safety and Health Committee. Join us for the announcement of the 2020 award winners!

Visit sponsor pages or networking rooms.

Advocacy - Oil Markets, Refining and the Energy Transition
This session will cover the global perspective on areas of demand growth including EV penetration, shifts in new capacity, threats of rationalization, opportunities for renewable diesel, and the US refining market and energy transition.

Moderator:
Susan Grissom, Chief Industry Analyst, AFPM

Panelists:
John Auers, Executive Vice President, Turner Mason
Alan Gelder, Global Content Lead for Refining, Wood Mackenzie

Sponsored by:
BASF Corporation

Operational Excellence and Culture - From Surviving to Thriving - Investing in Positive Mental Health and Why it’s the Right Thing To Do
From Surviving to Thriving – Investing in Positive Mental Health and Why It’s The Right Thing to Do’. Bob Pragada, President & COO of Jacobs will give an insightful overview of his own organization’s compelling journey to supporting mental health as a key priority to enable access to meaningful resources for everyone.

Moderator:
Jolie Rhinehart, General Manager, Lake Charles Refinery, Phillips 66

Speaker:
Bob Pragada, President and Chief Operating Officer, Jacobs

Visit sponsor pages or networking rooms.

Advocacy - Vehicles Policy: Combustion Engine Bans or Consumer Choice?
This session evaluates the concept of banning internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) favored by 98% of consumers today. The panelists, from impacted industries, local communities, and the think tank community, will look at the feasibility and costs of a technology-ban approach to reducing transportation emissions.

Moderator:
Derrick Morgan, Senior Vice President, Federal & Regulatory Affairs, AFPM

Panelists:
Mark Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
Tom Stricker, Group Vice President, Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs, Toyota Motor North America
Andrew Walmsley, Director, Congressional Relations at American Farm Bureau Federation

Operational Excellence and Culture - Digital Transformation: Cultural Change & Work Process Design

Moderator:
Craig Harclerode, O&G and HPI Business Development Executive, OSIsoft (part of Aveva)

Panelists:
Bill Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer, DCP Midstream
Brendan Rogers, Downstream Digitization Manager, Chevron Corporation

Sponsored By:
Technip Energies

Technology - A New Era for Alkylation: Ionic Liquid Alkylation - ISOALKY (TM) Process Technology
This presentation introduces how ISOALKY Technology uses a non-volatile ionic liquid catalyst that operates with on-line regeneration, without acid soluble oil (ASO) disposal or any solid by-product formation. The presentation also reviews how ISOALKY Technology provides greater flexibility in processing olefin feedstocks with low/negligible H-transfer tendency, smaller volume of catalyst required, reduced emissions, optimized operating conditions to increase octane and alkylate yield, and decreased risk in transportation and handling of the solution.

Moderator:
Scott Purnell, Vice President, R&D, W.R. Grace

Panelists:
Helin Cox, Senior Business Leader, Alkylation & Treating, Honeywell UOP
Hye Kyung Timken, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Chevron Fellow

Sponsored By:
Honeywell, UOP

Networking and entertainment opportunity.

Advocacy - Regional Approaches to State Transportation Policy
As states look to the future of transportation, they are increasingly working with their neighbors to develop comprehensive solutions that involve electrification, fuels standards and Cap and Trade Programs. This session will look at the Transportation & Climate Initiative, the Great Plains Institutes “Clean Fuels Policy for the Midwest” and other regional efforts.

Moderator:
Don Thoren, Vice President, Outreach, AFPM

Panelists:
Drew Veysey, Senior Associate, Georgetown Climate Center
Brendan Jordan, Vice President, Transportation & Fuels, Great Plains Institute

Operational Excellence and Culture - Human & Organizational Performance in Georgia Pacific: Opening Minds, Taking Action, and Getting Results
Poor safety performance drove Georgia-Pacific, a major player in the paper industry, to transform using Human & Organizational Performance. Find out how they are applying new learning both in the office and in the field, and the early results.

Moderator:
Sharon Watkins, Operations Leader, Monroe Energy

Speaker:
Dawn Wurst, Senior Vice President, Health & Safety, Georgia-Pacific

Technology - Midstream Market Outlook
With the expansion of U.S. oil production in places like the Permian basin we have seen a corresponding expansion of pipeline infrastructure development to bring this feedstock to refiners and export markets. The U.S. energy industry, and the midstream sector, has also been uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This panel will provide an outlook for pipeline development in the United States, along with insights into key market drivers influencing midstream investment decisions. The panel will also discuss the outlook for midstream recovery in a post-pandemic era, and review some of the key infrastructure projects that are now underway.

Moderator:
Susan Grissom, Chief Industry Analyst, AFPM

Panelists:
Katie Bays, Managing Director, FiscalNote
Rusty Braziel, CEO & Principal Energy Markets Consultant, RBN Energy
Tom O’Connor, Senior Director, Energy Markets, ICF Consulting

Visit sponsor pages or networking rooms.

Advocacy - Sustainability: Defining Expectations
As public dialogues question society’s best path toward a sustainable future, fuel and petrochemical manufacturers are defining the role of our industries by demonstrating ongoing commitments to improving environmental performance, advancing safety, supporting thriving people and communities, and driving progress in their own operations and in sectors across the economy. Hear how companies are navigating evolving stakeholder expectations while spearheading solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Moderator:
Kelly Curran, Senior Director, Communications, AFPM

Panelists:
Ron Abbott, Technical Manager, Sustainability, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP
Maria Dunn, Policy & Sustainability, Phillips 66
Willis Jernigan, Director, Safety and Health, Koch Industries

Sponsored By:
Haldor Topsoe

Operational Excellence and Culture - Walk the Line and Culture – Leadership Fireside Chat
Walk the Line is a conduct of operations driven, practice sharing program focused on engaging the front line to help reduce process safety events and help make sites safer. This fireside chat will discuss Walk the Line and Culture from a company leader perspective. Case studies on how Walk the Line may help will be provided.

Moderator:
Lawrence Moreaux, Vice President and Site Manager, LyondellBasell

Panelists:
Michael McKee, Vice President, Refining Operations, PBF Energy
Michael VanDerSnick, Senior Vice President Americas Manufacturing, LyondellBasell
Tim Watson, Corporate EH&S Vice President, Americas Styrenics

Sponsored By:
Suez Water Technologies & Solutions

Technology - Cybersecurity Policy in the Evolving Threat Landscape
This session will focus on existing and potential threats to information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems, including ransomware, and what policy makers, regulators, and AFPM members can do to make these systems more secure from cyberattacks. We will look at how cyber threats have increased as technology advancements improve operational efficiency, and how the private sector can work with federal partners to ensure cybersecurity policy is crafted in a way that is flexible, non-prescriptive, and allows for industry to adequately respond to the evolving threat landscape.

Moderator:
Derrick Morgan, Senior Vice President, Federal & Regulatory Affairs, AFPM

Panelists:
Will Hurd, U.S. Representative (R-TX) (2015 - 2021); Former CIA Officer
Christopher Roberti, Senior Vice President for Cyber, Intelligence, and Supply Chain Security Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Christopher Lukas, Chief Information Security Officer, Chevron U.S.A. Inc.

Visit sponsor pages or networking rooms.

Advocacy - How Community Engagement Benefits People on Both Sides of the Fence
Refineries and petrochemical facilities are critical to cultivating thriving communities. Serving as the foundation of local economies, they are also active partners in programs to advance education, health, safety, and environmental protection. Through these programs and open and transparent communication, they are building trust and lasting partnerships with the people that live in their communities. Hear how our industries are establishing goodwill and supporting their neighbors, and how these activities benefit our workers, from the people who live it every day.

Moderator:
Jaime Zarraby, Senior Vice President, Communications, AFPM

Panelists:
Adam Gattuso, Government Affairs and Communication Leader, Monroe Energy
Blythe Bellows Lamonica, Senior Manager, S.E. Communications Hub, BASF Corporation
Jake Reint, Managing Director of Public Affairs, Flint Hills Resources

Operational Excellence and Culture - Transparency, Credibility and Confidentiality in Sustainability
The energy industry faces a challenging future as governments and financial institutions make a strong push for climate sustainability strategies. Key industry stakeholders are feeling a sense of urgency as near-term commitments are expected. Add to the mix the expectation that data be publicly available, and black-box solutions are no longer being acceptable. Welcome to the Information Age. The industry needs to adapt with flexible, modular ways to provide information in the right context while still protecting their intellectual property. To do so requires a variety of data, methodologies, and partnerships to cross-validate and capture different dimensions of the sustainability landscape. Join us as we present findings and observations from our journey toward providing clients actionable insight and reporting that has been transparent, credible, and confidential.

Moderator:
Tim Go, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, HollyFrontier Corporation

Speaker:
Charles J. Reith, Jr., President & CEO, HSB Solomon Associates LLC

Technology - Midstream Policy Outlook
In recent years we have experienced a myriad of legislative and regulatory midstream policies that improved pipeline safety and streamlined infrastructure permitting.  During the same period, pipelines have become highly politicized.  We have seen widespread efforts to stifle or stop midstream infrastructure projects through the regulatory process, legislation, and litigation.  Furthermore, with a new Administration and Congress focused on transitioning to renewable energy sources the next four years are likely to remain very active. This panel will review current regulatory, legislative, and legal midstream issues and provide and near-term outlook on midstream policy issues.

Moderator:
Robert Benedict, Vice President, Petrochemicals & Midstream, AFPM

Panelists:
Keith Coyle, Attorney, Babst Calland
Christi Tezak, Managing Director, ClearView Energy Partners, LLC
Cynthia Quarterman, Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council

Create delicious cocktails brought to you by: Albemarle.