Search | American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

AFPM, API Respond to President Biden’s Letters to U.S. Refiners

June 16, 2022

AFPM President and CEO Chet Thompson and API President and CEO Mike Sommers sent a letter to President Biden responding to recent letters the Administration sent to major U.S. fuel refiners suggesting that these companies, their workforces and facilities throughout the country aren’t doing their part to bring fuel to the market and lower energy costs for consumers.

Refining Capacity 101: What to Understand Before Demanding “Restarts”

June 6, 2022

The United States has the most complex and efficient refining industry in the world, but we also have less refining capacity than we used to. Where the issue of refining capacity is concerned, it’s important to understand what refining capacity is, why we’ve lost capacity in the United States and how policies can advance the competitiveness of our refineries in the global market.

Refinery Utilization 101: The Other Half of the Capacity Story

July 8, 2022

Refinery utilization, measures how much crude oil refineries are processing or “running” as a percentage of their maximum capacity. It tells us roughly how much of our refining muscle is being put to work manufacturing fuel. American refineries are running full-out, at about 95% of total capacity, contributing more fuel—gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, etc.—to the global market than any other country. In fact, U.S. refineries process more crude oil every day than the United States produces, and we make more finished fuels than the United States consumes.

CA Politicians: Blame Anything for CA Gas Prices, Except Us.

October 28, 2022

Governor Gavin Newsom continues to blame fuel refiners for California’s highest-in-the-nation fuel prices. He couldn't be more wrong. The problem and solution to much of California’s fuel price challenge can be found in Sacramento policy. Take a look to better understand the role of policy in regional price differences, why it’s inaccurate to equate “margins” or “refinery cracks” with “profits,” and why windfall profit taxes are a known policy failure.

U.S. refinery utilization is the quiet hero in a tight refined product market

March 4, 2023

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.

Instrumentation Craft Internship

Maintenance

In the last few years, we have recognized improvement opportunities for recruiting local trades. The identified opportunities can be summarized as experience and exposure. Most instrumentation applicants have the proper certifications but lack field experience. Motiva has recently addressed this issue by building a training program that assesses the development needs of a new hire. This allows us to develop individual training plans and test for comprehension. The training program will have its first trainee beginning in September.

Facilitator: Gerard Celestine, Motiva Enterprises LLC

Speakers:
Dana Hannin, Motiva Enterprises LLC
Rickey Hicks, Motiva Enterprises LLC

Speakers

Gerard Celestine

Dana Hanning

Rickey Hicks

Session Start End

Wed, 10/04/2023 - 10:00 - Wed, 10/04/2023 - 10:45

Topic

Maintenance

Renewable Diesel Panel

Sustainability, Gasoline Processing

Sponsored by Nalco Water
Renewable diesel production units have been online for several years as operators shift their attention to renewable fuels to support their ESG commitments. This technology is similar to traditional hydroprocessing with some of the major differences being in feedstocks, operating conditions, product intermediates, metallurgy and others. A panel of experts from these operating companies will be on hand to answer audience led questions on RD operations while providing operational feedback, lessons learned and best practices.

Facilitator: Eric Legare, Chevron U.S.A. Inc.

Panel:
Paul Dofton, Marathon Petroleum Company
Kamyar Keyvanloo, Phillips 66
Tanner Lawrence, Diamond Green Diesel
Rich Smith, Chevron Products Company

Speakers

Session Start End

Wed, 10/04/2023 - 10:00 - Wed, 10/04/2023 - 10:45

Topic

Gasoline Processing

U.S. Gasoline Demand: How Not To Sink With The Ship!

Gasoline Processing

The composition of the US passenger car fleet is changing rapidly with the growing adoption of electric vehicles. US gasoline demand will peak at levels lower than pre-pandemic and then decline. The ship that has often kept global refining afloat will start to sink! Not all is lost, as life rafts are available, as gasoline demand in Latin America and Africa will continue to grow, with US refiners being more competitive than Europeans. Global petrochemical demand growth will provide some support to naphtha, but that will likely be in emerging economies. These export opportunities are unlikely to fully counter the decline in US gasoline demand, so how much US capacity is at risk of rationalization if they “do nothing”? What are the technology options that refiners should consider to align with shifting local demand patterns, that add value. What refinery scale is necessary to deliver a sustainable source of competitive advantage?

Facilitator: Rainer Bass, HF Sinclair Corporation

Speakers:
Alan Gelder, Wood Mackenzie
Keith Couch, Honeywell UOP

Speakers

Alan Gelder

Keith Couch

Rainer Bass

Session Start End

Wed, 10/04/2023 - 11:00 - Wed, 10/04/2023 - 11:45

Topic

Gasoline Processing

Industrial Rope Access

Maintenance

In this session we will discuss in how a better understanding of rope access safety and capabilities can lead to more effective access selection. We will cover basic rope access safety and mitigation techniques, equipment selection, project planning, and how to deploy rope access to site. We will also cover common uses of rope access. Participants will:

Gain an understanding of rope access capabilities and potential use

Recognize the potential for reduced at height exposure hours as well as cost savings benefits

Learn how to identify rope access work

Facilitator: Andy Woods, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company

Speaker: Joanna McClellan, BrandSafway

Speakers

Andy Woods

Joanna McClellan

Session Start End

Wed, 10/04/2023 - 13:15 - Wed, 10/04/2023 - 14:00

Topic

Maintenance

Reliability & Safety of Reforming and Isom Units

Gasoline Processing

The panel of reforming SMEs representing operating companies and technology licensors will discuss number of safety and reliability topics including reforming emergency shut down interlocks and actions, philosophy on imposing operating limits by reformer heater skin thermocouples and experience with handling spent Semi-regen reforming catalyst

Panel:
Taylor Fama, Daily Thermetrics
Rhett Finch, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Matt Hutchinson, Axens North America
Alex Kniuksta, Honeywell UOP
Alex Sabitov, Phillips 66
Russ Wiltse, Valero Energy Corporation

Speakers

Session Start End

Wed, 10/04/2023 - 13:15 - Wed, 10/04/2023 - 14:00

Topic

Gasoline Processing