Bringing insight to the market forecast as well as hurdles on future projects affecting the petrochemical industry, more than 60 refining, engineering, and construction subject matter experts addressed approximately 500 delegates at the Refining Engineering and Construction and Downstream Modular and Commissioning Start-Up Conference USA 2016.
The event, held recently in Houston, Texas, provided first-person, real-time insight into the challenges facing the United States’ Gulf Coast construction industry, bringing together plant operators, contractors, business owners and suppliers—all sharing information on the current state and future of the development and maintenance of the petrochemical industry.
The conference began with an interactive slido.com polling indicating by a slim margin of just slightly more than 60 percent of conference attendees believing that the results of the recent U.S. presidential election would prove to have a positive effect on the downstream industry.
Speaking to that cautious optimism in a discussion titled “Growth in the Eye of the Storm: Successfully Navigate Market Uncertainty and Identify Growth Opportunities,” panelists observed that striving for growth in volatile market conditions is not a foreign concept for the refining market. However, with the scope of the current industry downturn, significant reorganization, restructuring, and CAPEX prioritization is the key to navigating the low oil price storm and pushing ahead of the competition, they agreed.
In a presentation titled “Modular Standardization to Reduce Cost and Speed Project Delivery,” Ralf Bellaire, head of engineering and executive vice president at Linde AG, observed that combining modularization with design standardization is currently being seen as the next logical step to maximizing the benefits of a modular approach.