European Summit to Focus on Improving Refining Competitiveness

Given his vantage point working near Grupa Lotos' refinery in Gdansk, Poland, Wojciech Koscianiuk can easily tick off a list of key downstream trends in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Efficiency improvements, cost control, supply chain optimization, seeking local market opportunities," said Koscianiuk, head of the Grupa Lotos' Margin Management Office.

The above trends are common throughout Europe, where refiners face formidable competitive threats such as falling demand, stringent European Union regulations and high operating costs. Refiners seeking to survive the tough competitive environment often need to become more flexible in terms of the types of crudes they run and improve operational performance. Grupa Lotos is taking action along these lines at Gdansk, Koscianiuk noted.

The company is investing in "a delayed coker that will improve Gdansk refinery's complexity and refining margin," said Koscianiuk.

Seeking additional ideas on how to make the refinery even more competitive, Koscianiuk will be among 60-plus executives attending GDS International's Next Generation Downstream Summit  (NG Downstream) Europe Oct. 7-9, 2014, in Bremen, Germany.

Now in its fourth year, NG Downstream brings together C-level and other senior-level delegates and solution providers from operating and service companies to engage in frank discussions about current and anticipated downstream oil and gas challenges and opportunities in Europe and the Middle East, noted Rob McCabe, EMEA Product Director Summits & Events with GDS. The closed-door event features three thematic roundtable discussions, high-level working lunches, intimate one-on-one meetings and ample networking opportunities, he explained.

In addition to Grupa Lotos, summit delegates will hail from operating companies such as BP, Total, CEPSA, Hellenic Petroleum, MOL and Neste Oil. Several of the solution providers on-hand at the event will include Capstone, Emerson Process Management, Jacobs, Kirchner Italia SPA, RLG International, Invensys (now part of Schneider Electric), Stanley Black & Decker and W.R. Grace. IHS will serve as the event's analyst partner, and DownstreamToday is the official media partner.

Among the topics on the program for this year's summit, which will take place at Bremen's Dorint Park Hotel, are the challenges and suggestions for additional "bottom of the barrel" processing or "resid upgrading," said Ben Arrowsmith, head of NG Downstream delegate attendees with GDS.

In addition, solution provider Gebr. SAACKE Gmbh & Co. KG – a 112-year-old, family owned vendor of boiler and process firing systems based in Bremen – has agreed to host an Oct. 7 tour of its factory for a number of summit delegates.

"These operators are extremely excited about this 'off-site visit,' and it will give SAACKE a fantastic opportunity to showcase their technology," noted Tom Roberts, GDS' accounts manager for NG Downstream.

A limited number of delegate and sponsorship opportunities remain for this year's NG Downstream Summit Europe, according to the event organizer. For more information, email Roberts at tom.roberts@gdsinternational.com.

Matthew V. Veazey has written about the upstream and downstream O&G sectors for more than a decade. Email Matthew at mveazey@downstreamtoday.com. Twitter: @Matthew_Veazey