Special reports

Gopal Chakrabarti, Tim Fitzgibbon, and Micah Smith, McKinsey & Co., look at how the downstream oil and gas market has changed amid COVID-19.

Vincent Thomas, P. Eng, Rodan Energy Solutions, offers some ideas on how oil and gas facilities can more effectively manage electricity costs.

Jake Davies, Emerson, UK, explains how corrosion management programmes that balance both CAPEX and OPEX considerations can generate quick payback for refiners.

Ajith Muralidharan, Oil and Gas Consultant, explores what the construction industry needs to do to improve post-pandemic project performance.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the US Energy Information Administration expects 5% more US propane consumption this winter compared with last winter.

Wood Mackenzie’s 2020 Energy and Commodities Summit Asia Pacific edition recently started, with experts sharing their views on how the energy sector is changing in light of the oil price crash, COVID-19 and the latest carbon-neutrality trends.

On 22 October, Hydrocarbon Engineering will be hosting the Downstream Digitalisation 2020 online conference, covering the latest developments driving the digitalisation of the hydrocarbon processing sector.

Dr Jeff Kenvin, Micromeritics, USA, explores the most effective ways to evaluate the surface area and porosity of FCC catalysts.

In a recent AFPM webinar Bruce Taylor, Director of digital transformation at Sinclair Oil, described digital transformation as focusing on getting incremental value from all of the investments made through digitalisation.

Colin Frazier, American Petroleum Institute (API), USA, outlines initiatives and programmes that have been put into practice in the downstream industry to improve process safety management and implementation.

Roberto Bosco, MKS Instruments, Inc., USA, explores a real-time fuel composition, physical property, and methane number analyser for combustion engine control and optimisation.

Nancy Yamaguchi, Contributing Editor, examines the effect of COVID-19 on the Middle East’s oil sector.

In 1H20, the US exported 5.4 million bpd of petroleum products, a slight increase of 48 000 bpd (1%) from 1H19.

While contracts generally contemplate foreseeable contingencies, they are unlikely to have made allowance for the pandemic outbreak and its far-reaching impact in the absence of any recent and related experience.

The recent uptick in industrial/ business activities and gradual re-opening of economies are set to strengthen the demand for polymers.