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Faced with the new normal, what opportunities do oil refining companies have, and how should they make technical choices? The reporter interviewed Li Dadong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Reporter: The choice of refining technology depends to a large extent on what kind of crude oil we have access to, as well as the demands of the consumer market we are operating in. What is the current trend in crude oil prices? What changes have taken place in market demand? What challenges does it pose to the refining industry? Li Dadong: Crude oil, as a raw material, shows two main trends. First, the proportion of sulfur-containing and high-sulfur crude oil is increasing. In 2010, the world’s crude oil production was 3.914 billion tons, of which 75% was sulfur-containing or high-sulfur crude oil; 57% had a sulfur content of over 1%, and more than 30% had a sulfur content of over 2%. Among the world’s remaining recoverable reserves, high-sulfur crude oil with a sulfur content of over 1.5% accounts for about 70% ； Secondly, the production of sour and highly sour crude oil has increased. The world’s production of highly sour crude oil was 140 million tons in 1998, 200 million tons in 2004, and reached 400 million tons in 2009 – accounting for nearly 10% of global crude oil production. In China, the production of highly sour crude oil is around 57 million tons per year, representing 30% of the country’s total crude oil production. Whether in terms of resources or benefits, refining low-quality crude oil is an inevitable choice for the future. China’s oil refining capacity has now reached 750 million tons. In 2014, China processed 503 million tons of crude oil, producing 110 million tons of gasoline, 30 million tons of diesel, and 176 million tons of other refined petroleum products, with an average operating capacity of only 67.1%. Meanwhile, the product structure has changed significantly in recent years. The overall demand for refined oil continues to rise, but at a slowing pace; it is the demand for gasoline and aviation kerosene that is increasing, while diesel has already passed its peak. An important task at present is to continuously reduce the fuel-to-wood ratio. In addition, environmental regulations are becoming increasingly strict, and the pace of product quality improvement is accelerating; starting next year, gasoline and diesel meeting National V standards will have to be supplied nationwide. Additionally, National Standard V will come into effect next year, but standards for National Standard VI and Beijing Standard VI are already under consideration and discussion, with implementation expected in the near future. Compared to the National VI and Beijing VI standards, the sulfur content remains unchanged compared to the National V standard; however, the levels of olefins and aromatics have decreased significantly, with the reduction being particularly notable in Beijing VI standards, which are substantially stricter than the Euro VI standards. From this trend, it can be seen that due to the decline in olefins and aromatics and the lack of high-octane components, alkanes must be added to the gasoline blend. For the Diesel National VI and Beijing VI standards, neither the sulfur content nor the cetane number has changed; the change in diesel is a decrease in the content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. While the capacity of China’s refining industry is growing at a rapid pace, it is necessary to work on adjusting the structure of the facilities and the range of products produced, with the following objectives: first, to make more efficient use of oil resources, which is actually a long-term task for us ； Second, the cleaning of the production process and the improvement of oil quality ； Third, a product structure that meets market demands to reduce the ratio of firewood to gasoline ； Fourth, the technology of combining oil and chemicals. Reporter: Green development may force a change in the ‘fuel’ used by cars; what will be the future of the refining industry? What are the new technologies that could impact the future? Li Dadong: Despite the slowdown in the global economy, China’s consumption of refined oil products continues to rise, while market demand for diesel compared to gasoline has declined significantly. At the same time, the increasing environmental regulations are also accelerating the pace of improving the quality of petroleum products. To cope with these changes, domestic oil refining R&D departments have intensified their efforts in technological innovation, developing a range of new technologies aimed at addressing these challenges. These include a more efficient fixed-bed residue hydrogenation technology (RHT), a combined technology for residue hydrogenation and heavy oil FCC processing (RICP), an integrated technology for selective hydrogenation of catalytic cracking wax oil along with selective FCC processing to produce more light oils (IHCC), and a technology involving shallow solvent deasphalting to reduce residue, followed by hydroprocessing of the deasphalted oil and then catalytic cracking (SHF technology) ； Third-generation catalytic cracking gasoline selective hydrogen desulfurization technology for producing clean fuels (RSDS-III) ； LTAG technology for producing the maximum amount of gasoline from catalytic diesel, and RLG technology for producing high-octane gasoline through hydrocracking ； Low-pressure hydrogenation technology RHSS for high-yield aviation kerosene ； Core technologies of chemical refineries that produce basic chemical raw materials, such as SHMP. These technologies or combinations of technologies play an important role in supporting the sustainable and green transformation of the refining industry. This article is from China Petroleum News; the copyright belongs to the original author