Worldwide Refinery Survey and Complexity Analysis - Historical

The Worldwide Refinery Survey and Complexity Analysis combines the 2012 Worldwide Refinery Survey with the Nelson Refinery Complexity Index. The Nelson Refinery Complexity Index is a cost-based index it provides insight into such things as refinery construction costs, replacement value, conversion capability and product slate.

The Nelson and the Equivalent indices have been improved and upgraded based on the author Daniel Johnston's extensive research, analysis and discussions with those in the industry. Specifics are detailed in the documents enclosed with the spreadsheets. Other criteria that make an index practical include; consistency, repeatability, compatibility with the available data, and easiness to understand and access.

Both the Nelson Complexity Index (NCI) and >Equivalent Distillation Capacity (EDC) are included and calculated into the regular Refinery survey spreadsheet. The Nelson Complexity Index is a pure cost-based index. It provides a relative measure of refinery construction costs based upon the distillation and upgrading capacity a refinery has. The index was developed by Wilbur L. Nelson in the 1960s to quantify the relative cost of the components that make up a refinery. The Nelson index compares the costs of various upgrading units such as a catalytic cracker, or a reformer to the cost of a crude distillation unit. NCI and EDC statistics have become widely used in industry literature to provide insight into various aspects of refinery value or operations.

For the second year, included is the Bottom of Barrel Index. The BoB index provides a means of quantifying and characterizing a refinery’s ability to process heavy crudes and produce premium refined products. It represents the combined capacity of a refineries Coking, Catalytic Cracking and Hydrocracking units relative to Distillation Capacity (expressed as a percentage). US average BoB Index is 55% (1/1/2011) Rest of the World average is 21% (excluding the US). Total World average is 28%.

2012 Nelson Complexity Indices:

• Distillation Capacity
• Vacuum Distillation
• Thermal Processes
• Coking
• Catalytic Cracking
• Catalytic Reforming
• Catalytic Hydrocracking
• Catalytic Hydrorefining
• Catalytic Hydrotreating
• Alkylation
• Polemerization
• Aromatics
• Isomerization
• Lubes
• Asphalt
• Hydrogen (MCFD)
• Oxygenates
• Sulfur Extraction

1999-2012

Single User, Multiple Users, Historical and Past Year Surveys are available