In an age of decarbonisation, refiners and petrochemical firms increasingly need to transform their operations through technology innovations such as digital twin and artificial intelligence (AI). Speakers at the Asian Downstream Summit & ARTC 2020 discussed how these developments will take shape over two days of virtual conferences on 28-29 October.
In the opening keynote, Andreas Krobjilowski, General Manager, Shell Jurong Island, Singapore, spoke about the firm’s net zero ambitions. He also shared how Shell has digitalised operations to minimise downtime and enable safer, greener operations.
His address was followed by a wide range of presentations and panel discussions on how the downstream sector can tap on digitalisation as a key enabler for transformation.
An executive roundtable held in partnership with AVEVA explored how value chain optimisation and asset performance strategy unlocks value for refining and petrochemical operators to stay agile. The robust discussion explored how cloud can drive business performance and help operators mitigate risks.
What does the Industrial Plant of the Future look like? A roundtable discussion in partnership with AspenTech delved into the trending topic of Refinery 4.0: Asset Management and IoT. The insightful session also highlighted how refiners can use data and digitalisation to gain a competitive edge in the current volatile environment.
More downstream perspectives shared during the conference:
- Jefri Mokhtar, Manager, Process Department, MRC Sdn Bhd, PETRONAS, Malaysia: "There is an urgent need for operators to be nimble at this time."
- Adel A. Benmohamed, IT Superviser, Pertamina, Algeria: "Nobody can pretend to be 100% secure from cyberattacks in oil & gas. Every day we hear about a new breach... even if you invest in high edge security equipment, if you are not training the user, you will have a problem."
- Wai Seng Cheah, Managing Director Malaysia and ASEAN Energy Digital Lead, Accenture, Malaysia: "We are in a position where we can use these technologies to our advantage so we must be ready now."
For more highlights from Asian Downstream Summit 2020, visit the event website.
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