Refining & Petrochemicals

Capital Project activity in the refining industry is starting to pick up in North America and activity worldwide continues to be steady. The petrochemical industry continues to increase Capital spending with a very positive outlook for the next five years. Most projects are driven by a combination of local supply needs, feedstock changes, regulatory compliance and global demand. The U.S. has had a rebound with shale gas extraction used as feedstocks for ethylene, propylene, methanol and ammonia production. These projects, similar to refining projects are facing new challenges as Owners want to take advantage of the high product price cycles and implement project execution strategies such as "fast track".

However, these projects continue to suffer from an industry wide, engineering and construction labor resource shortage as well as ever demanding economic challenges to meet company defined return on investments.

Capital Project Impact:

The impact of these issues is of major concern for companies executing large scale capital projects and programs. Increased time and cost to execute these projects, along with fast-tracking projects minimizes the already slim margins realized in the refining and petrochemical industry.

Representative Clients:

Albemarle
Andeavor (former Tesoro)
Ascend Performance Materials
Bahrain Petroleum Company
Braskem America
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company
Citgo
Delek Refining Ltd.
Ecopetrol S.A.
Equistar Chemicals
ExxonMobil
Flint Hills Resources
Holly Frontier
Honeywell - UOP
Husky Energy
INEOS Olefins & Polymers
INEOS Oxide
INEOS Styrolution
Infineum USA L.P.
Irving Oil Ltd.
Jabil Qiwan (Bazian)
Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co.
Kraton Polymers
Limtree Bay
LyondellBasell
Marathon Petroleum
Meridian Energy Group
Methanex
Motiva Enterprises
Murphy Oil
Norco Refining
North Leaf Capital Partners
North West Redwater Partnership
PEMEX
Pertamina
Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
PetroPeru
Phillips66
Red Leaf Resouces Inc.
Reficar
SASOL
Shell Chemical LP
Shell Oil Products
Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname
Sunoco
Syncrude Canada Ltd.
Tesoro Corporation
TPC Group
Tupras

Why Pathfinder:

Pathfinder has addressed these legitimate concerns and through our various project support services we have assisted our owner clients in either minimizing the cost/time component of planning and executing capital projects or provided a reality check to assure senior management that these projects are achievable and business/project expectations can be met.

Pathfinder has extensive experience in the design of strategies for fast track projects highlighting key successes such as the definition and planning of the project in early phases, and strict controls during the execution phase. Also, Pathfinder has worked as a highly experienced cold eye review team or as part of the existing project team to provide mentorship and guidance. Pathfinder’s Leadership and Core Consulting teams have over 600 years of collective project experience in the refining and petrochemical industry which leads to a wealth of international lessons learned. Additionally, Pathfinder is a major contributor and user of Industry Best Practices developed in various industry organizations. Our experience and industry involvement are invaluable and prove to be priceless when planning and executing these complex chemical process driven projects.

Industry Affiliations:

American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
American Petroleum Institute (API)
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACEI)
Construction Industry Institute (CII)
Construction Owners Association of Alberta (COAA)
Construction Users Roundtable (CURT)
Engineering and Construction Contracting Association (ECC)
Project Management Institute (PMI)