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Volume
45
Issue
3
17
and production capacities compared to other
parts of the world. Engineer Emad Mekki, Senior
Refining Expert, presented the second paper on
the “Operational Performance of the Arab Refining
Industry” while the third was presented by Dr
Yasser Al Baghdadi, Petroleum Industries’ Expert,
on “Remapping Global Petrochemicals and its
Implications for OAPEC Members.”
In the same vein, the JCCP presented 4 technical
papers and KISR’s Petroleum Research Centre
presented 5 papers. Egypt’s former Petroleum
Minister HE Eng. Usama Kamal presented a paper
on “Energy and Sustainable Development” while the
President of Cairo University Professor Fatima Ashour
presented a paper on environmental studies and
mitigating risks in scientific research. EPRI Director Dr
Yasser Mostafa presented a paper reviewing a case
study on the desulfurization of petroleum products
by using cheap Nano Polymers to cut the costs of
refineries operations and boost profitability.
Engineer Anoud Taher from ADNOC’s Refining
Research Centre presented a paper on ADNOC’s
experience in reducing energy consumption
through maximising the performance of the water
steam grid at the company’s oil refineries. Engineer
Rima Al Awadhi presented a paper on behalf of
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) on “Improving Projects’
Performance through Knowledge Exchange.”
Conclusions & Recommendations
• Modern technology is one of the most
important factors for empowering refining and
petrochemicals industries to face challenges
and improve performance
• Strategic planning a main factor in the
success of executing operational performance
improvement programs
• According to practical experiments, refineries
using performance improvement programs do
make significant progress in improving their
competitivity in global markets
• Committing to regular and pre-emptive
maintenance
programs
for
petroleum
equipment contributes to reducing emergency
halts that lead to loss in production
• New technologies and inventions contribute to
improving production efficiency in refining and
petrochemicals
• The importanceof boostingexpert cooperation,
coordination and exchange in performance
and productivity improvement between oil
refineries, Arab and international research
centres and oil companies.
Closing session
Dr Kareish reviewed the most important ideas
and recommendations discussed during the
conference sessions. He then thanked the sponsors
and supporting organisations, as well as, the active
taskforce from inside and outside OAPEC for their
role in making the conference a successful event.
Mr Takaya Suzuki, Deputy GM of Technical
Cooperation at JCCP, then spoke thanking all the
speakers at the technical sessions and lauding
the high quality of the papers presented at the
conference. He hoped that the cooperation between
JCCP and OAPEC will continue in the future.
Field visit
A field visit to KISR’s Petroleum Research
and Studies Centre took place on day 3 of the
conference. A presentation was given on the
centre’s goals, activities, and achievements. The
participants also had a tour in the place to have a
look at the various departments and equipment,
as well as, at the mini pilot refinery simulator for a
closer experience of working at refineries.