GROWING EARNINGS IN TIMES OF CHANGE: A CASE STUDY IN UNLOCKING REFINERY-WIDE VALUE THROUGH HIGH-PERFORMANCE CATALYSTS

摘要

North American refiners have faced numerous external challenges from multiple fronts. The growth of new light feedstocks and challenged feedstocks, a sharp decline in crude oil prices, fluctuating product spreads, and more stringent fuel regulations are just some examples of what our industry has faced during the last five years. One may consider these events to be conditions that must be endured - storms that must be weathered. At ExxonMobil, we see these events as opportunities. As published by Solomon Associates in 2011, "The most profitable refineries view chemicals and catalysts as a profit opportunity, rather than a cost." [1] This approach has helped drive the deployment of high-performance catalysts such as Nebula® in ExxonMobil refineries across the globe, leading to significant margin capture in a changing environment. Albemarle and ExxonMobil, through our longstanding catalyst development partnership have co-developed the latest innovation in hydrotreating catalysts. Built upon the success of Nebula, which has enjoyed over fifteen years of industry-leading hydrotreating performance, the partnership has now commercialized Celestia™, a new high-performance bulk-metal catalyst that has demonstrated step-out hydrotreating activity. ExxonMobil and Albemarle have successfully commercialized Celestia alongside Nebula and conventional catalysts at multiple sites in North America and around the world. Thoughtfully considered applications of these technologies in distillate hydrotreaters as well as LCO and VGO hydrocracker pretreaters has yielded exceptional returns. Paired with creativity and a forward-thinking attitude, Celestia's abundant catalyst activity has enabled ExxonMobil to extend opportunities for value creation beyond unit battery limits and throughout its refineries. This paper presents case studies describing how Celestia and Nebula performance has helped ExxonMobil maximize margin improvement in a challenging environment.