Q&A Questions in Town Hall Meetings 

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SESSION (1): OCT. 28 MORNING: Challenges and Opportunities to Meet the Energy Trilemma: Impacts, Implications, and Insights

• Breaking down the Energy Transition (Raul Calzada and Austin Lin of Wood Mackenzie)
• TBA (Matthew Goitia of Peaker Energy)
• TBA (Robert Snell of The Quaker Group)

·       Town Hall Meeting Questions:

1. In an increasingly competitive environment, what are the key attributes that global refiners need to sustain business? How important are the following attributes: accessing steady supplies of inexpensive crudes; adopting advanced technologies to maintain reliable plant operations, being flexible in making in-demand refined products, and staying vigilant in decarbonization?
2. Supply peak vs. demand peak: which will come first for the oil market?
3. What lies ahead in the fossil-fuel phase-out amid crude disruptions due to geopolitical tensions?
4. Your questions…

SESSION (2): OCT. 28 AFTERNOON: Ensuring Reliable Crude Supply and Blends Compatibility

Presentation titles and speakers:

• Heavy Crude Oil Supply and Pricing (Peter Barlett of Baker & O'Brien)
• Actual Quality of Brazilian Crudes (Alexandre de Oliveira Gomes of Petrobras)
• Becht Crude Oil Compatibility (Scott Sayles of Becht)
• Thermodynamic Approach to Evaluate Compatibility of Crude Oil Blends (Asok Kumar Tharanivasan of KBC, a Yokogawa Company)
• Feed Flex, Digital Service of Opportunity Crude Blending (David Crochet and Alex Park of Nalco Water/Ecolab)
• Managing Operational Calm in the Face of Crude Supply Unrest (Rob Gutierrez of Veolia)

·       Town Hall Meeting Questions:

1. 1. What roles will sanctioned producers—i.e., Iran, Russia, and Venezuela—play in future global production and supply of affordable crudes?
   2. How do the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East tensions affect global oil trades?
   3. Do you see a long-term reorientation of oil flows amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine (e.g., more Russian oil to China and India, more North American oil to Europe)?
   4. Your questions…

SESSION (3): OCT. 29 MORNING: Quality of Cost-effective Grades and Processing Optimization

Presentation titles and speakers:

• Integrating Advanced Photonics and AI Technologies for Enhanced Crude Oil Blending and Processing (Gregory Shahnovsky of Modcon Systems)
• BPCL BPMARRK®-Aspen Hysys® Integrated Digital Twin Model to Optimize Operational Performance and Achieve Sustainability in Feedstock Flexibility (Rajeev Kumar of Bharat Petroleum)
• Processing Conventional and Unconventional Crudes - Identifying and Dealing with Issues Associated with Production Field Additives (Sam Lordo of Becht)
• Optimizing Carbon Footprint when Processing Crude Contaminated with Filterable Solids (Nigel Hilton of Dorf Ketal)
• Maximize Profits Safely with Predictive Corrosion Management (Attila Gajdacsi of Emerson)

·       Town Hall Meeting Questions:

1. What are the best places in refinery operations to deal with fouling and corrosion: crude procurement, desalter?
2. How can a crude oil composition analysis be utilized to secure cost-effective crudes and aid in modifying downstream refining processes?
3. What role can the IIoT play in crude management?
4. What treatment technologies are available to increase crude-feed flexibility?
5. Your questions…

SESSION (4): OCT. 29 AFTERNOON: Low Carbon-intensity Oils, Alternative Feedstocks, and Petrochemical Production

Presentation titles and speakers:

• Carbon Intensity Modelling (Randy Segato of Haverly Systems)
• Crude CI as a Decarbonization Lever for Refineries (Paul Cannizzo of Solomon Insight)
• Industrial Experience with Topsoe's Renewable Fuels Technology and Key Benefits (Henrik Rasmussen of Topsoe)
• Detailed Characterization of FCC Products from Co-processing Biocrudes with Petroleum (Yi Zhang of CanmetENERGY)
• Pyrolysis Oil from Plastic Waste and Hydrogenation of Captured CO₂ to E-methanol (Charalampos Panagopoulos of Hellenic Petroleum)

·       Town Hall Meeting Questions:

1. How important will low-CI/carbon-neutral crudes be in refinery decarbonization?
2. What roles will carbon tax and carbon price play in CI in the future?
3. When will crude prices begin to reflect CI quality?
4. What avenues are available to lower the CI of a crude?
5. Do you see the processing of low-CI/carbon-neutral crudes as an effective strategy for refiners to lower Scope 3 emissions? (Note: Scope 3 emissions encompass all indirect emissions that are not covered under Scope 2 and arise throughout the value chain of the reporting company, including emissions from both upstream and downstream activities.)
6. Do you see carbon offsets remaining a viable solution to lower the CI of a crude given pushback by environmentalists and other groups?
7. What are the market implications of the increasing demand for low-CI crudes?
8. How will the pursuit of low-CI crudes compare in different regions of the world?
9. How is carbon-intensity benchmarking likely to affect upstream investment decisions?
10. What roles will crude oil play in the fuel transformation and as part of the low carbon fuel standard (LCFS)?
11. Will food vs. fuel competition impede the growth of biofuels, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel?
12. Will bio/renewable feed coprocessing in FCCUS play a major role in refinery decarbonization?
13. Do you see more refiners revamping existing hydroprocessing capacity to produce renewable diesel (RD) and/or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)?
14. With the increasing production of biofuels using hydroprocessing, will more refineries turn to electrolysis plants for H₂ production?
15. Outside of hydroprocessing units, what other refinery units do you see as being viable routes to yield bio/renewable fuels?
16. Your questions…

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