Building a roadmap to success in a time of uncertain demand for refineries




What next steps does refining need to take as it comes out of the demand dip caused by the covid-19 pandemic? So many opportunities in the market today rely on knowing how and when demand will recover – for refiners, looking to the next steps could be the difference between long term success and failure.

The S&P Global Platts European Refining Virtual Summit brings together the top thought-leaders in the space to analyse market trends and predict when the refining industry will get back on its feet. With deep-dives into demand dynamics for downstream markets, in-depth analysis of regulations impacting refiners and insightful looks at what sustainability measures will help companies thrive in this turbulent time.

 

What to expect:

- Fallout of COVID-19
Demand for refined products fell dramatically due to the pandemic, what does recovery look like for the industry and what will the long-term effects of the pandemic be?

- Energy transition
Many end-user industries are steering away from refined products as a source of energy. Greener solutions are becoming more popular with consumers – this transition is set to change demand dynamics of refined products in the long-term.

- Future of European Refineries
With a great number of refineries set to close in the coming years, how can refining companies stay competitive in an era with reduced capacities and lower demand?

- Regulations and future fuels
With sustainability regulation changing the demand for refined products in favour of greener fuel solutions, how do refiners change with the times?

 

View brochure:

Brochure

     

    Who attends?

    • Refiners/Traders
     Petrochemicals and Biofuels Producers
     Banks and consultants
     Technology Providers
    Terminal, Storage and Tanker Operators
     Analysts

    Your virtual pass will include:

    • Access to the virtual platform and all live and on-demand session broadcasts on refining
    • Convenient access and view the event from anywhere through your mobile, tablet and computer
    • 1 months post event on-demand access to the virtual platform
    • Easy to use networking tools to connect with the whole audience through the virtual environment
    • Virtual attendees will gain access to an UberEats voucher (where available) to order food and drink to your home/office

Going Virtual

While we're running this year’s event virtually, we'll still have the high-caliber content and speakers the industry depends upon. You can expect content-rich sessions, in-depth discussions, lively Q&A, networking, prizes, exhibit booths, and much more, all within an immersive online environment.

 
Preview the virtual experience    

Preview the Virtual Experience
Virtual Lobby

Virtual Auditorium

Virtual Networking Lounge

Virtual Exhibit Hall
Build your network
 
— See who else is registered
— Search for attendees by name, title, company, country, keyword, or shared interests
— Participate in group chats to meet new people
— Exchange contact information
— Optimize your profile to help people find you
— Add your LinkedIn profile to your contact card and invite new contacts to connect
 
 
Connect
 
— Engage in the public group chat
— Reach out using private 1:1 messaging
— Invite other attendees to join a private group chat
— Tour the exhibit hall to speak with solution provider reps
 
 
Customize your agenda
 
— Participate in the full agenda or add specific sessions to your briefcase
— Attend live sessions or come back later to watch the replay
 
 
Explore the exhibit hall
 
— Explore solution provider booths
— View and collect resources in your briefcase
— Speak directly with booth reps by team chat or 1:1 conversations
— Visit the Platts booth to access bonus material and to enter for a chance to win a prize
 
 
Have some fun
 
— Score points and watch the leaderboard to see where you stand
— Enter for a chance to win prizes at various exhibit hall booths
 
 
Enjoy extra content
 
— Access Platts market news, exclusive content, and more
— Receive speaker presentation materials
 
 
Take it with you
 
— Download the speaker presentations and other materials you collected throughout the event
— Visit the on-demand replay for a refresher or to catch up on something you missed
— Lookup contacts from the virtual environment
 

See more

 
 

 

Agenda

 
Day 1: Wednesday, 22 September 2021
  • 10.00 AM Networking
  • 10.55 AM Chair's welcoming remarksFrancesco Di Salvo, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global
COVID-19, the impact on refining and steps to recovery
  • 11:05 AMGlobal crude oil fundamentals and their impact on refinersOil demand looks to recover to pre-2020 levels in H2 2021, what impact will this have on refining market dynamics?
    Dr. Jorge León, Energy Economist, bp
  • 11:35 amPanel discussion: state of play for European refiners• How will each part of the value chain plan for demand increases post COVID-19?
    • Will decarbonization change the face of refining as we know it?
    Spyros Kiartzis, Manager New Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources, Hellenic Petroleum S.A.
    Rafael Moreno Lahore, Associate Director, Oil &Gas Downstream, BCG
    Federico Bindi, Prime Material Supply, Coordination Foreign and Portfolio Development Manager, Eni
    Torbjorn Kjus, Chief Economist, Aker ASA
    Moderated by: Francesco Di Salvo, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global
  • 12:25 pmNetworking and lunch break
  • 14:00 pmMiddle distillates outlook• How will the aviation market recover to buoy middle distillate demand?
    • What sustainable fuels means for middle distillates in the long term.
    Kristine Petrosyan, Oil Market Analyst, IEA
  • 14:30 pmHedging petrochemical margins• How to establish a good risk management policy and the key to successfully hedge petchems?
    • What is the role of hedging petchems in stabilizing and increase profit margins?
    • Recent trends in petchem margins
    Lionel Haroche, Executive Director, Fixed Income Division, Morgan Stanley
Europe's place in the future of global refining
  • 15:00 pmPanel discussion: Global overview• Will growing capacity in Asia force Europe to forge a new niche in the downstream market?
    • The state of Africa’s refining sector has changed significantly since COVID, with global and domestic shifts expected to place further pressure on the continent, what does the future look like?
    • How will the USA respond to an oversupplied crude market, with better prices on the horizon?
    Helmut Mayrhofer, Consultant, Larkalis
    Tushar Bansal, Trading and Downstream Expert, McKinsey & Company
    Elitsa Georgieva, Executive Director, CITAC
    Moderator: Elza Turner, Senior Editor, S&P Global Platts
  • 15:50 pmInterview: The Evolving Tanker Markets Post Covid
    With markets across the globe beginning to recover, what role will tanker markets play in supplying Europe?
    Peter Sand, Chief Shipping Analyst, BIMCO
    In conversation with: Paul Hickin, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global Platts
  • 16:20 pmConference Day 1 closing remarksFrancesco Di Salvo, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global
  • 16:30 pmEnd of Day 1
Day 2: Thursday, 23 September 2021
  • 09:00 amNetworking
  • 09:50 amChair's recap of day oneFrancesco Di Salvo, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global
Decarbonizaton – what’s in it for refiners & what plans do they have in place?
  • 10:05 amLeader's Panel Discussion: Decarbonization• How will long-term decarbonization measures impact downstream demand for refiners?
    • What future fuels show the most promise on the road to carbon neutrality?
    Damien Valdenaire, Science Executive, Concawe
    Gergely Toth, Oil Industry Economist, MOL
    Patrick Kulsen, Managing Director, Insights Global
    Moderated by: Paul Hickin, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global Platts
  • 10:55 amNetworking break
Regulatory influences on European refining
  • 11:25 amOutlook for the biofuel market• Low carbon fuel policies paving the way for biofuels in Europe
    • Refiners' role in driving renewable diesel and SAF supply
    • The role of innovation in tapping new feedstock pools
    Anselm Eisentraut, Head of Market Intelligence Strategy, Neste
  • 11:55 amHydrogen and the future for refining• Just how far can hydrogen go to reducing emissions in refining?
    • What other key technological developments will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission in the sector? Philip de Smedt, Director, Petrochemicals Europe
  • 12:25 pmEmbracing Europe’s strategy for liquid fuels - From Petroleum to ReFuels'What does the EU target of 32% Renewable Energy consumption by 2030 mean for refining?
    John Cooper, Director General, FuelsEurope
  • 12:55 pmChair's closing remarks
    Francesco Di Salvo, Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global Platts
  • 13:00 pmEnd of conference



Key numbers

100+

Attendees

38%

Refiners/Traders

7%

Petrochemicals and Biofuels Producers

12%

Terminal, Storage and Tanker Operators

32%

Banks, Consultants and Technology Providers

Speakers

Torbjorn_Kjus Torbjorn Kjus,
Chief Economist, Aker ASA

Torbjørn Kjus has 20 years of experience in analysing the global crude and refined products markets. He worked 6 years as an oil analyst and trader in Norsk Hydro in Oslo and BP trading in London before he took up a role as Chief Oil Analyst in DNB Markets in Oslo in 2007. He held this position for 11 years but currently works as Chief Economist in Aker ASA, the listed industrial investment company. Torbjørn was by Norwegian institutional investors ranked as the number one financial analyst independent of sector when he resigned from DNB in 2018. For the Oil & Gas sector Torbjørn was ranked as the number one financial analyst during his last four years in DNB. Torbjørn annually held 250 presentations on the global oil & gas markets to investors and oil industry worldwide and was frequently quoted in media such as Bloomberg, Reuters, Platts, Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, etc. He regularly briefed the US Treasury in Washington D.C. on the global oil market and provided consultations about the market to the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum, to the Norwegian Pension Fund (NBIM) and to the Norwegian Central Bank. Torbjørn is particularly known for having predicted the oil price crash as a consequense of the US shale oil revolution, first published in the report “The fat lady has started to sing”.

Francesco Francesco Di Salvo
Associate Editorial Director, S&P Global

Francesco Di Salvo is Associate Editorial Director, Clean Refined Products, Europe and Africa. At S&P Global Platts, he has been covering the refined product markets since 2013 and currently leads the price reporting teams for middle distillates and light ends.

Prior to joining Platts, Francesco analysed the upstream oil and gas markets, with field postings in Nigeria, UAE, Turkey and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where he followed the nascence and consolidation of the hydrocarbons industry.

Francesco holds a BA from the University of Bologna and an MSc from the London School of Economics (LSE).


Eugen Eugen Weinberg
Head of Commodity Research, Commerzbank AG

 

Francesco Spyros Kiartzis
Manager New Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources, Hellenic Petroleum S.A.

 


Eugen Eugen Weinberg
Head of Commodity Research, Commerzbank AG

 

John Cooper John Cooper
Director General, FuelsEurope

John Cooper was appointed Director General, FuelsEurope and Concawe in April 2015. He started his career in the motor industry working on future powertrains, and after 3 years moved to BP Downstream where he has 27 years of experience. His previous role was as Director, Renewables Strategy Downstream, leading BP’s commercial compliance strategy for renewables regulation. He has also had business leadership roles in aviation fuels and lubricants, transport energy policy, and fuels technology, in the UK and USA, and has represented the UK fuels industry at the UK Automotive Council Technology Group. He holds a BA in Engineering from Cambridge University.


Kristine Petrosyan Kristine Petrosyan
Oil Market Analyst, International Energy Agency

Kristine Petrosyan leads refining, crude, and product market research for the International Energy Agency's flagship Oil Market Report. She started her career in Ernst&Young's Moscow office in the corporate finance department. After graduating with an MSc in Energy Studies from the University of Dundee in Scotland, she joined BP in London as an upstream commercial analyst for Russian projects, moving on later to trading analysis. Prior to joining the IEA, she worked in BP and Glencore as a middle distillates trading analyst.


Jorge Dr. Jorge León
Energy Economist, BP

Dr. Jorge León is an energy economist with bp’s Economic and Energy Insights team in London, analysing economic and global energy market developments, and helping to provide frontline advice and support to bp's businesses to inform decision making.

He supports the team’s analysis of oil and refining markets and contributes to bp’s highly regarded external products — the BP Energy Outlook and BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

He has more than 13 years of experience in research and consulting in the energy sector, with significant expertise in monitoring, analyzing and forecasting world energy and oil developments.

Previously, he worked at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), where he was one of the main authors of OPEC’s flagship publication, the World Oil Outlook. He also coordinated OPEC’s internal medium-term oil market report, managed a number of research projects and led OPEC’s international dialogue initiatives with the European Union, the International Energy Forum and the International Energy Agency.

A native of Ecuador, Dr. León holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Navarra and an M.Sc. degree in Economics and Finance from CEMFI. He has also taken professional training courses from the French Institute of Petroleum (IFP) and the British Energy Institute.


Speaker Patrick Kulson
Managing Director, Insights Global

Patrick Kulsen is managing director at Insights Global, consisting of PJK International and TankTerminals.com. He currently has the role of general manager and senior consultant. In 2006 Patrick joint PJK as the second person alongside his father Pieter Kulsen. Together with his farther he managed to grow the company to its current form. In 2013 he officially acquired the company and in 2016 PJK and TankTerminals.com merged into one company.

Curiosity to understand commodity industries and ambitions to grow the business are his main professional drives. His broad academic and technical education highlights this intrinsic motivation to look at subjects from all angles, to innovate and to seek intellectual challenges.

As general manager, Patrick is responsible for daily and long term business of the whole group. After integration and reorganizing TankTerminals.com and PJK into one coherent business the accelerated growth of the new company is now his main focus. For various clients active in oil trading, oil products/chemicals distribution and at tank storage companies, Patrick heads market research and consultancy projects. Recent projects focused mainly on market and commercial Due Diligence of tank terminal assets up for sale.

Patrick has degrees in Quantitative Finance (MSc.), Industrial Engineering (MSc.) and Mechanical Engineering (B).


Speaker Elitsa Georgieva
Executive Director, CITAC

Elitsa Georgieva, CITAC Executive Director, has extensive experience in managing projects across the downstream oil sector in Africa and delivering insights that support clients’ decision-making and policy formation processes. Elitsa focuses on project management and consultancy and has also as set up and oversees CITAC’s short- and long-term product demand and supply forecasts for all countries in Africa, and trade balances for the continent and its sub-regions. Elitsa joined CITAC in 2005 from KBC Process Technologies (formerly Petroleum Economics Ltd.) and has led many commercial and economic studies on various African markets and energy sector infrastructure projects. Elitsa is currently heading CITAC’s expansion into the gas and power sectors in Africa, as well as overseeing the company’s consultancy services. Elitsa holds M.Litt (Distinction) in Middle East Security from the University of Aberdeen, BA (Hons) in Economics and BA (Hons) Political Science and International Relations from the American University in Bulgaria, supplemented by advanced training in oil trading and risk management and membership of various professional organisations, including the Energy Institute.


Speaker Damien Valdenaire
Science Executive, Concawe

 


Speaker Anselm Eisentraut
Head of Market Intelligence Strategy, Neste

Anselm Eisentraut joined Neste in 2015, and is currently Head of Market Intelligence in Neste's Strategy unit. He is responsible for providing strategic market intelligence on renewable fuel markets and broader energy sector developments. Prior to joining Neste, Anselm spent 6 years as Renewable Energy Analyst with the International Energy Agency in Paris. He holds a Master in Landscape Ecology. While Anselm is closely following developments in the renewable fuel markets around the world, he is keeping his own fuel consumption low by moving around Helsinki on his bicycle all year round.


Sponsorship

Partner Organization

 CEFIC

 

Become a sponsor

Position your business in expert company, distinct from your competitors. At S&P Global Platts European Refining Conference, each sponsor has the opportunity to showcase their product or service to industry-wide professionals. We provide an environment that encourages an honest and open dialogue among attendees. If you would like to lead the conversation as an event sponsor, contact us for more details on available packages: on or .

Download the brochureDemonstrate your strengths, raise your company profile, and maximize your ROI as we bring key industry players and decision-makers to you. At the S&P Global Platts European Refining Conference, each sponsor has the opportunity to showcase their products and services, and distinguish themselves from the competition. We offer a full range of opportunities and packages, and can even tailor solutions to suit your needs.

Contact us to start a conversation about your goals and how you can lead the pack as an event sponsor: Irina Bondareva, Sponsorship Manager, at +44 (0) 7976 684 617 or [email protected].

Pricing


Early-bird Rate*
Register by August 20, 2021
Standard Rate*
Register by September 21, 2021
 Delegate
$449    
$599    

* Rates are in USD and are not inclusive of local taxes or VAT.



View full online event terms and conditions

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FAQs

How do I register?

We offer three easy ways to register: online, by phone, and by email.

Online: Click here or click any of the "Register Now" buttons
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +44 (0)20 7176 6111

What forms of payment do you accept?

For this online event we only accept payment by credit card.

I am no longer able attend. May I send someone else in my place?

If you’re not able to attend, we’re happy to transfer your registration to a member of your organization at no cost, up to 2 business days in advance of the event. Requests must be received in writing via email to , and are subject to approval. For assistance, you may also reach out by phone:

What if I need to cancel my registration?

Cancellation is not available for this event. Once payment has been made, we are not able to offer a refund. If you're not able to attend or send a colleague in your place, you will still receive access to the on-demand replay of the event and all the materials (included with your registration).

To transfer your registration to a member of your organization at no cost, send your request by email to up to 2 business days in advance of the event. Requests are subject to approval. For assistance, you may also reach out by phone:

Are there sponsorship opportunities?

Yes, we offer a variety of standard and tailor-made sponsorship opportunities to fit your marketing and business-to-business needs—and your budget. Please reach out directly to the Business Development Manager for this event:

Irina Bondareva
Phone: +44 (0) 7976 684 617
Email: [email protected]

Are press passes available?

Yes, we allow accredited media writing on behalf of major industry publications to cover the event at no charge. Please reach out to the contact below for press pass approval.

Alex Baird
Phone: +44 207 176 0508 
Email: [email protected]

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