DEEPER CONVERSION AND CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION — PRIORITY AREAS FOR THE RUSSIAN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
More than 250 specialists from the refining, petrochemical and gas processing companies, as well as leading solutions, technologies, services and equipment suppliers from 11 countries took part in the industry development discussion at the Moscow Refining, Gas & Petrochemicals Week which was held on 13-16 September in Moscow, Radisson Collection Hotel. Official Partners - GAZPROMBANK, GAZPROM LNG TECHNOLOGIES and SLAVNEFT-YANOS, the event was organised by EURO PETROLEUM CONSULTANTS.
Supported by:
Moscow Technology Week incorporated:
GPTC - Russia & CIS Gas & Petrochemicals Technology Conference,
RRTC - Russia & CIS Refining Technology Conference & Exhibition, Dedicated to SLAVNEFT-YANOS 60th Anniversary.
The Week concluded with a Site Visit to Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez plant on 17 September.
Video report from the conference:
GPTC: BURN, LIQUIFY OR PROCESS?
Russia is a world leader in terms of natural gas reserves. So, what is more profitable: to liquify or to process? GPTC 2021 participants tried to answer this question.
According to Vygon Consulting, LNG is the only non-renewable energy source that has increased in demand in 2020. However, due to the pandemic, the timing of the new facilities’ construction and their commissioning was delayed. For example, the start-up of GAZPROM LNG PORTOVAYA was delayed from 2021 to 2022. Deputy General Director, Production Anton Stukov in his presentation spoke about the current state of the plant's construction process: the main construction and installation works have been completed, but the commissioning of the main equipment has just begun. General Director of GAZPROM LNG TECHNOLOGIES Konstantin Belousov highlighted key issues of alternative development of low-tonnage LNG production in the Gazprom Group. In the Perm region, the company operates the “Kanyusyata” low-tonnage LNG complex, which supplies natural gas to more than 2,000 households and 10 boiler houses; and in July 2021, a cryogenic refuelling point was opened. The development of low-tonnage LNG is relevant not only in the north, but also in the south of Russia. Chief Technologist of NIZHEGORODNEFTEGAZPROEKT Ilya Pikalov presented a project about a low-tonnage LNG plant within the production site of the LUKOIL Stavrolen petrochemical complex in the Stavropol region. The mainline automobile, railroad and water transport, as well as quarry and agricultural equipment, will be consumers of its products.
When discussing the issues of natural gas monetisation by obtaining products with increased value, such as ammonia, methanol and their derivatives, the main attention of the world's leading licensors – STAMICARBON, SULZER GTC TECHNOLOGY, JOHNSON MATTHEY and KBR – in addition to traditional process aspects, was paid to environmental issues. The last two companies from the above presented their newest developments in the production of “blue” and “green” methanol and ammonia. The whole session was devoted to the energy transition trends and circular economy with presentations from LUKOIL-LINK's General Director Marat Usmanov, Head of R&D Program, Natural Gas Conversion of TotalEnergies Nikolay Nesterenko and General Director of GAZPROMNEFT - INDUSTRIAL INNOVATIONS Mikhail Nikulin. Experts also discussed the possibilities of increasing production efficiency through new digital technologies; AVEVA and HEXAGON shared their solutions.
The key drivers for the future development of the gas & chemical industry will be product diversification, deeper conversion of feedstocks and the production of high-margin products, says Senior Analyst at the Center for Economic Forecasting of GAZPROMBANK Nina Adamova. Deputy General Director, Strategic Development and Evaluation of Investment Projects of METAFRAX GROUP Levon Garslyan supported this opinion.
RRTC. SLAVNEFT-YANOS’ Anniversary
RRTC is widely regarded as the best established and most popular downstream technology event in the Russia & CIS Region – it was one of the first events to appear on the Russian market and continues to develop successfully together with the industry. This year’s edition was dedicated to the 60th anniversary of SLAVNEFT-YANOS refinery. Senior representatives of the shareholder companies ROSNEFT – Director, Refining Tatyana Vetrova and GAZPROM NEFT - Acting Director of Refining & Petrochemicals Development Directorate Oleg Vedernikov congratulated General Director Nikolai Karpov with this big achievement. Partners of Slavneft-YANOS who played a significant role in the establishment and modernisation of the plant also joined in celebrating the most important milestones in the refinery’s history: Director of the SHELL CATALYSTS & TECHNOLOGIES Russian branch Yulia Zayeva, Advisor to the AXENS President of the Board Alexander Pochitaloff, General Director of RN-Research & Development Center Konstantin Rudyak, Director of the Department for Investments and Industry of the Administration of the Yaroslavl Region Dmitry Glushkov, President of EURO PETROLEUM CONSULTANTS Colin Chapman and Head of the Department of the Gubkin University Vladimir Kapustin.
Two conference sessions were dedicated to the success story of SLAVNEFT-YANOS, during which its representatives spoke about the implemented and future projects of the company. Presentations were made by General Director Nikolay Karpov, Chief Technologist Eduard Dutlov, Head of the Research Laboratory Dmitry Borisanov, Research Laboratory Specialist Pavel Ivanov, Head of Department Sergey Rumyantsev, Process Engineer Roman Gudkevich. The audience was particularly interested in the presentation on “Determination of the optimal conditions for hydrogenolysis of sulfur compounds to increase the efficiency of jet fuel production” made by the students of Profession-oriented YANOS Class Alexander Shlyakhturov and Zakhar Balandin within the framework of the "School-University-Plant" personnel policy. Industry experts highly appreciated the work done by the young researchers and noted the importance of investing in the younger generation for the successful development of the industry. Alexander and Zakhar were praised with such words as “our future is in good hands”, “rising stars” and “talented young generation” which surely made their scientific supervisors and General Director of Slavneft-YANOS Nikolay Karpov proud.
A lot of attention was paid to technology and catalyst solutions for the refining industry. Presentations on opportunities and latest developments were made by representatives of GAZPROMNEFT – CATALYTIC SYSTEMS, KNT GROUP and ROSNEFT. The leading solution supplying companies such as ART Hydroprocessing, AXENS, DELTA VALVE, GAYESCO INTERNATIONAL – WIKA, LUMMUS TECHNOLOGY, SHELL GLOBAL SOLUTIONS, SULZER GTC TECHNOLOGY, HONEYWELL UOP, TECHNIP ENERGIES, ASPENTECH, AVEVA, HEXAGON and KBC presented their best cases.
Among the most interesting presentations, the delegates highlighted Director of the SULZER GTC TECHNOLOGY Moscow Representative Office Igor Rogov. He spoke about the introduction of modern technologies for the production of aromatics at the refinery. Sulzer GTC Technology has developed the GT-BTX PluS® technology which uses the well-known GT-BTX® extraction process and narrow aromatics hydrogenation to bring the hydrotreatment of catalytic cracking gasoline to a new level of technology. Technology Manager of LUMMUS TECHNOLOGY Ivan Kartashev presented an alternative way of processing oil into petrochemical products. He showcased the Indmax FCC, ultra-high olefin yields catalytic cracking technology, which allows processing both vacuum gas oil and residual feedstock, providing propylene yields up to 18%. The largest Indmax unit with a capacity of 4.17 million tons of feedstock per year has been commissioned at the Indian Refinery in Paradip, India. It has been in operation for over 5 years without downtime for major repairs and proves high-performance and reliability.
Particular attention was paid to the financing of investment projects in the oil and gas industry. Deputy Head of Petrochemicals Contracts Support Department of GAZPROMBANK Elena Baranchuk talked about banking support of contracts, a service that allows companies to control the intended use of borrowed funds. “This service is aimed at protecting investments and today is in demand among government customers and corporate clients who are interested in transparency of settlements, control over the intended and effective use of funds under their contracts and investment programs” she emphasized. After that, Manager of the Department for Counterparties of the Gazprom Group Sergey Gnetov presented the financial instruments of GAZPROMBANK to support suppliers and contractors of the downstream industry for small and medium-sized businesses.
Besides the panel sessions and discussions, delegates had an opportunity to learn more about the activities of the leading companies during “Exhibitor showcase” session - an organised express review of the exhibition. According to the voting results, representatives of Slavneft-YANOS won “The best exhibition booth”. At their stand, YANOS representatives shared the refinery’s history, and also showed the operating laboratory installation developed by the students of the YANOS class. The results of this project are the basis for the hydrodemercaptanization process in the production of jet fuel and can be applied at the plants.
Delegates also had more than 7 hours of networking during coffee breaks sponsored by GAZPROMBANK and as well as during luncheons and business dinners.
Photos from the event are available on Flickr Flickr