Solomon Update
Subscribe to this page.Giving your refinery a “clean bill of health”
Fred Mackie, senior consultant for Solomon Associates, was quoted today in Arabian Business on the topic of refinery and chemical plant maintenance. You can read the full article, titled “Clean bill of health,” here. To provide further context, here are excerpts from Mackie’s email interview with writer Abdelghani Henni: What are the most common problems [...]
EUROPIA proposes Solomon Associates system for allocating GHG credits
Solomon Associates’ newly patented system for greenhouse gas emissions performance assessment and allocation has been proposed by the European Petroleum Industry Association (EUROPIA) as the basis for allocating GHG allowance credits within the EU’s carbon trading regime. In the U.S., the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is evaluating the use of the Solomon Associates’ system [...]
Solomon Associates launches 2010 refining studies
The past two years have been difficult for the global refining industry, with the economic downturn resulting in lower product demand. This has led to record-low capacity utilization and the closure of some refineries. This makes Solomon Associates’ 2010 refining studies — the Worldwide Fuels Refinery Performance Analysis (Fuels Study) and the Worldwide Paraffinic Lube [...]
Solomon Associates expands practice in India
India is the fourth-largest consumer of oil in the world and is expanding and upgrading its refining industry to keep pace with this demand. The country’s power generation industry is similarly dynamic. To better serve the needs of India’s evolving energy industry, Solomon Associates is dedicating more resources to bring its global experience and proprietary [...]
European power generating companies signing up for Cologne summit
Representatives from more than 20 power generating companies, including some of the biggest players in Europe, have registered to attend the Solomon Associates 2010 Executive European Benchmarking Summit, to be held at the Hyatt Regency in Cologne, Germany, June 22-23. Now in its third year, Solomon Associates’ European summit is designed to help power generation [...]
Solomon Associates’ Charles Reith talks attention to detail
Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services for Solomon Associates, was featured in the Midland Reporter-Telegram on Sunday, April 18, to share ways that refineries can reduce costs and increase efficiency. Here is an excerpt: If refineries spent more time focusing on the “fundamental basics…that affect performance” instead of “fighting fires,” they could reduce overhead [...]
Three areas of opportunity for improving refinery performance
Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services, shares three of the biggest areas of opportunity for refineries and chemical plants seeking to improve their performance in a Solomon Associates news release. According to Reith, these areas include: 1. Optimizing energy efficiency. 2. Managing hydrocarbon loss. 3. Sharing knowledge across the organization. “Through our NCM³ Consulting [...]
Four mistakes energy companies make in designing new plants
Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services, shares the four most common mistakes that energy companies make in building new facilities in a Solomon Associates news release. According to Reith, these mistakes include: 1. Designing for throughput or capacity rather than overall performance. 2. Failing to include operations personnel in the project team. 3. Planning [...]
Valero works to improve mechanical availability of Louisiana refinery
Bloomberg reports that Valero Energy Corp., the largest U.S. independent refiner, “will spend $200 million to improve reliability at a gasoline-producing unit at its St. Charles refinery in Norco, Louisiana.” According to the report: The project will reduce the frequency of required maintenance on the unit, giving the company access to a larger amount of [...]
Solomon Associates comments on decline in 2009 base oil output
Jamie Brunk, a Solomon Associates senior consultant, told Lubes’n’Greases magazine that Energy Information Agency data showing a decline in 2009 base oil output comes as no surprise. Domestic base oil output fell 12 percent from 2008, to 55.4 million barrels. It was the first time since 1993 that base oil production did not surpass 60 [...]
111 olefin plants to participate in Solomon Associates study
Solomon Associates today announced that 111 olefin plants have committed to participate in the firm’s Worldwide Olefin Plant Performance Analysis (Olefin Study). The participants include six plants providing data to the study for the first time. For more than two decades, the world’s olefin manufacturers have relied on the biennial Olefin Study to learn where [...]
Solomon Associates announces hirings and promotions
Solomon Associates recently announced a number of hirings and promotions. Said company president Dale Emanuel: “The Solomon Associates team is steeped in hands-on operational experience, far exceeding the field experience of competing management consulting firms. It’s a big part of what sets us apart.” Changes include: Claire Cagnolatti was promoted to vice president of chemical [...]
Refiners hire Solomon Associates for energy efficiency assessments
Refining companies in South America and the Middle East have recently contracted Solomon Associates to perform Energy NCM³ assessments for their facilities. These projects help refineries identify low-cost efficiency improvements to save money and boost their Energy Intensity Index (EII), the industry standard for measuring and ranking the energy efficiency of refineries. Solomon Associates will [...]
Eastern European refiner renews consulting contract
An Eastern Europe refining company has renewed Solomon Associates’ contract to provide ongoing support during its implementation of NCM³ profit improvements — the third such contract extension, said Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services. Solomon Associates applies NCM³ methodology to help clients close performance gaps by improving work practices and business processes, using industry [...]
Solomon Associates wins Asian refining company project
Solomon Associates has begun work on a comprehensive NCM³ improvement program in Asia for a large integrated refining and petrochemical complex. The project includes the fuels refinery, lubes refinery, petrochemicals production and power generation facilities, said Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services. The refiner expects to achieve $28 million in annual sustainable performance improvements [...]
Slowing the rising cost of turnarounds
A “turnaround” is the planned, periodic inspection and overhaul of the units of a refinery or chemical plant, including safety checks, preventive maintenance, and repair. It typically requires the shutting down of all or part of a facility for a period of up to several weeks. According to industry data compiled by Solomon Associates, the [...]
Felicitas Global to represent Solomon Associates in SE Asia and India
With the rapid evolution of the energy industry in Southeast Asia and India, many companies are looking to data-driven methodologies to improve their operational performance. To better serve their needs, Solomon Associates has selected Felicitas Global Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based firm, to represent the firm in these markets. Charles Reith, vice president of consulting services [...]
Will your refinery survive? Mike Hileman offers insights
With refinery utilization following a downward trend since 2006, and this trend intensifying in 2009, many operators of North American refineries are tackling the tough question of how, whether, and which of their plants can be expected to survive in the current climate. Solomon Associates vice president Mike Hileman recently offered some insights to Downstream [...]
What U.S. power plants can learn from Europe about cap-and-trade
Ed Platt, vice president of Solomon Associates’ power group, and Richard Jones, the group’s director of statistics and risk modeling, assess the potential impact of cap-and-trade legislation on U.S. power plant operations, based on an analysis of European operators after the introduction of carbon trading by the European Union in 2005, in the January 2010 [...]
