Conference Alert (And Travel Tip)

“He entered the territory of lies without a passport for return.” -- Graham Greene (English novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, 1904-1991)

Two Saudi conferences are planned for the early part of 2013 …

• 3rd Saudi Downstream Forum & Exhibition 2013 (http://www.saudidownstream.com/index)
• PetrochemArabia: The 3rd Saudi International Petrochemical Exhibition & Forum 13-15 January 2013 (http://www.petrochem-arabia.com/Petrochem/website/Default.aspx?refer=2&id=mainLnk2)

Travel Tip (IMPORTANT!)

If you decide to attend either conference, be sure to start working on your VISA as soon as you can. It can be a time consuming process.

Here is some information on the process from the Saudi Downstream Forum & Exhibition 2011 Web …

///////
Visas
It is advised that delegates book early to ensure their visa is guaranteed.

Delegates and Exhibitors needing a visa invitation letter to apply for a Saudi Arabian visa MUST provide all of the following to The CWC Group:

A copy of your passport identity page.
If you are a Conference delegate: Your completed and paid Delegate Registration Form.
All delegates/exhibitors are to complete a form (pleae request this from CWC)
A short letter on your company letterhead with a copy of your business card confirming your company’s support of your visit. A template letter can be found below.

When we have all the information, we will send you your letter of invitation to accompany your visa application. Please contact your local Embassy for your Visa Application Form and for any further details.

Source: http://www.saudidownstream.com/2011-microsite/venue_info.html
///////

Conference Alert: World Refining Technology Summit

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness.” -- Charles Dickens (English novelist, 1812-1870)

The 4th Annual World Refining Technology Summit 2012 will be held in Brussels Belgium, 22-23 October 2012
Here is the agenda …

4th Annual World Refining Technology Summit 2012 Agenda
The Current State, Challenges and The Future of The World Refining Industry - Year 2010 And Beyond
Keynote Address
EU Global Policies and Roadmaps to 2050
• The Status of EU Refining
• EU Roadmaps to 2050
• Future for EU Refining
Vision 2050 - Global Energy Supply Scenarios
• Oil And Gas Prices Fluctuation And Its Impact On The Refining Industry
• Tougher Energy Policies And Their Impact On The Refining Industry- European Region Perspective
• Energy Demand Growth - How Long Will Feedstock Last?
Commercial Hydrotreating and Hydrocracking of Petroleum - Update On the Latest Technologies
• Residue Process: Coking, Hydro cracking And Visbreaking
• Upgrade Residue Process: Options And Optimising
• Technical And Commercial Drivers In Heavy And Variable Feedstock Cracking
New Catalyst Technologies and Operating Approach for FCC
• Commercial Aspects Of FCC Technology- Improving Profit Margins
• Optimisation Of The FCC Process - Mass, Heat, And Pressure Balance- Case Study
• FCC Catalysts And Sulphur Reduction In Fuels
• FCC Process Variables And Operating Conditions
Advanced Technologies for Processing High Margin Feedstock
• Feedstock Availability Until 2020
• Increasing Throughput And Providing Constant High Yield Of Quality Refined Products
• Economic Benefits Of Achieving Longer Catalyst Life- Case Study
New Projects and Developments of the Refining Industry in Europe
Regional Update
Roadmap to the Refinery of the Future
• Forging Ahead With New Technologies
• Improving Refinery Performance And Maximising Profit Margins In Tough Economical Landscape
• Refinery Optimisation, Revamping, Upgrading And Newbuilds- The Industry Outlook
Troubleshooting In Oil and Gas Refining
• Due Diligence
• Control Problems In Distillation
• Optimising Pumparounds
• Fouling In Shell And Tube / Heat Exchangers
Special Roundtable Session: Asset Management and Maintenance Planning
• Asset Management - Achieving Higher Utilisation Rates
• Optimal Data Gathering And Rotating Equipment Monitoring
• Utilising Best Practices To Improve Refinery Economics
State-Of-The-Art Sulphur Recovery Technologies
• Update On The Sulphur Recovery Regulations
• Alleviating Operational Difficulties And Overall Sulphur Recovery Improvement - Case Study
• Advanced Sulphur Recovery Technologies- Industry Perspective
Refining In Difficult Economic Times
• Can Technological Advances Help Surviving Through Economical Downturn- Industry Perspective
• Value Chain Management And Optimisation- Case Study
• Clean Fuels Regulations And Hydrogen Management In Refining
• Storage
• Energy Saving In The Oil And Gas Refining Sector
Ground-Breaking Technologies for Difficult Refining Processes
• Heavy Feedstock Processing Technologies
• Delayed Cocking
• Hydrodesulphurization
Refinery Inspection and Security- Next Generation Solutions
• Novel Approaches And Technologies In Refinery Inspection
• Threats And Security In The 21st Century Refining
• Real-Time Asset And People Tracking Solutions
Health Safety and Environment
• Latest Regional update on Environment Norms
• Technology Updates on Health and Safety
• Emission Technologies
Precision Measurement Technologies in Refining
• Best Practices In Precision Measurement For Refineries
• Best-In-Class Flow Measurement For A Large-Scale Refinery
• The Future Of Precision Management
Refinery Automation and Process Control
• Refinery Automation And Process Efficiency
• Optimised Process Control And Refinery Profit Margins
• Refinery Maintenance And Plant Automation

Source: http://www.cerebralbusiness.com/wrts/

Stumbling Across the Web

The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed. -- William Gibson (born March 17, 1948), American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist

In my peripatetic wanderings across the Net I stumbled, as I so often do, on a very interesting item. It is a series of sample chapters on petroleum engineering. For the full text, you will have to shell out some money, but you can get a taste of the content for free. Here’s how …

Google® search string:

unesco eolss petroleum engineering

Here is an extract from one of the sample chapters …

///////

Petroleum Engineering - Downstream (2012)

Future Technology in Heavy Oil Processing

Jorge Ancheyta, Mohan S. Rana

Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico City, Mexico

Summary

The change in crude oil quality around the world has impacted petroleum refining industry in such a way that current and new refineries are being re-configured and designed respectively to process heavier feedstocks, i.e. blends of various crude oils with elevated amount of heavy petroleum. This is of course due to the reduction of light crude oil and increase of heavy or extra heavy crude oils production. These new feeds are characterized by high amount so impurities (sulfur, metals, nitrogen, asphaltenes) and low distillate yields, which make them more difficult to process compared with light crude oils. Contrarily, the demand of light distillates for producing the so-called clean fuels (e.g. ultra-low sulfur diesel and gasoline) is increasing throughout the world. These circumstances situate not only refineries but also research center, catalyst manufacturers and process developers in a great dilemma, which need to adapt and design future technologies for properly conversion and upgrading of heavy oils. There are various commercially available technologies to upgrade heavy petroleum, which can be classified in carbon rejection and hydrogen addition processes. Their main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages as well as some other emerging technologies are reviewed in this chapter. Special attention has been put for their application for upgrading of heavy petroleum.

source: http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C08/E6-185-22.pdf

///////