Hurricane Ida knocked out power to over one million people and created devastation that will take months to address. But as soon as the storm passed, the fuel and petrochemical industries began stepping up with financial assistance, in-kind donations and in-person support to help affected communities recover and rebuild.
One of the societal byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increased emphasis on technology to meet changing needs, and the fuel and petrochemical industries are no exception to that trend.
Beyond digitization (converting analog information to digital) and digitalization (the technology-driven shift to business processes) lies digital transformation.
As we approach the 2022 hurricane season, experts are predicting yet another severe year, with some saying it will compare to last year. No one knows how accurate these predictions will be, but we can...
All eyes are on Hurricane Ian, which is expected to approach Florida’s west coast later Wednesday and into Thursday bringing high winds and massive amounts of rain. Although our nation’s refiners and petrochemical manufacturers do not have facilities in the affected region, we’d like to urge the people in the area to prepare for the storm and heed all evacuation notices. Florida residents can get critical preparedness and evacuation information here.
“Our country has seen time and again that major storms and often-correlated runs on gas stations can have a swift impact on prices. Already in Florida, some key areas are functioning with roughly 20 percent of retail stations either out of gas or out of power. That means there is less supply overall and some temporary inability to access supplies in certain Florida communities where there is, at present, heightened local demand. The market is resilient and will work to fix this imbalance swiftly, but a return to normalcy will likely not be immediate as the supply chain is complex and buyers will need to return to their normal purchasing habits."
Because of the extensive safety and mitigation steps refiners take wherever hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation is concerned, the risks from this process pale in comparison to those we assume every day when we engage in routine activities like riding a bike, driving a car and playing with pets.
Experts are predicting this year’s season to be similar to last or even a little less severe, with Colorado State University Tropical Forecast calling for 13 named storms, six hurricanes and two category 3 or higher hurricanes. And as they do every year, refining and petrochemical companies are doing their part to ensure they are prepared for every possible scenario and batting down the hatches, if you will.
In a tight refined product market it has been U.S. refiners that have stepped up. Our industry ran full-out for most of 2022 making sure American consumers, our domestic economic centers and our allies had enough gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to keep everyone moving. Our refining sector leads the world in liquid fuel production and is effectively doing more than any other to bring better balance to the global market.
