Refinery and Petrochemical Planning
A refinery or cracker earns its margin from which feeds it runs, how hard the units run and where the products go. DemandLabs plans feedstock, unit capacity and product stock on one decision graph, with refinery and marine operations included.
What Shapes Refining and Petrochemicals Planning
Refining and petrochemical margin is decided across crude, units, co-products and planned outages.
Crude Value Depends on Yield
Each crude yields its own mix of products, and its sulfur, metals and acidity limit how much the units can take. Its value depends on what that mix sells for.
Co-Products Move Cracker Margin
A cracker makes propylene, butadiene and aromatics alongside ethylene, and each sells into its own market. The feed and severity chosen for one product change the volume of the others.
Turnarounds Take Units Offline
A planned turnaround takes a unit out for weeks, and scope found once it is open often extends the outage. Feed, product stock and customer supply all have to be covered around it.
Solutions for Refining and Petrochemicals
The DemandLabs applications that fit refining and petrochemicals, and how each one handles the planning.
Unit capacity, crude supply and product demand solve in one plan, rough-cut for the monthly S&OP and detailed for the next few weeks. A turnaround enters as lost unit capacity, and the plan shows which products fall short.
Explore supply planningThe scenario room puts crude slate options next to each other on P&L, cash and service, and the planning and supply teams agree on one plan before cargoes are bought.
Explore IBPWhen crude or freight costs move, the change rolls up to a landed cost per product, then to a recommended price on each contract account, from fuel distributors to polymer converters.
Explore revenue growth managementBuffers for crude and finished products are set across refinery tanks, terminals and depots, and re-solved weekly against demand and cargo arrival variability.
Explore inventory optimizationHow Refining and Petrochemicals Planning Connects
A crude cargo links to the units that run it, the products they make and the margin each product earns.
Crude and Feed Supply
- Crude cargoes
- Term contracts
- Spot purchases
Unit Loading
- Unit capacity
- Turnarounds
- Yields
Cracker Plan
- Feed choice
- Severity
- Co-products
Tanks and Berths
- Tank capacity
- Berth slots
- Product liftings
Margin by Product
- Crack spreads
- Landed cost
- Emissions
Built for Refining and Petrochemicals
Refining and petrochemical decisions are coupled through units, tanks and ships.
Refinery and Marine on One Graph
Unit plans, tank positions and vessel programs share the decision graph with supply and inventory, so a delayed cargo reprices the unit plan in the same cycle.
Emissions Priced With Each Slate
Each crude slate and unit plan carries its emissions next to its margin, so both are compared in the same review.
Turnarounds Tested as Scenarios
Moving, shortening or extending a turnaround is a scenario with its feed, stock and margin effect, compared side by side with the base plan.
Product Prices Follow Crude Cost
A crude or freight move reprices each product's landed cost and the recommended price on every contract account in the same cycle.
Planning Notes for Refining and Petrochemicals
See all notes
The cheapest barrel is rarely the most profitable one
Crude blend optimization on netback rather than delivered cost: what an assay constrains, two grades worked through, and where the value gets left behind.
7 October 20269 min read
Scope growth is the turnaround risk that every other risk feeds
Scope growth in turnaround planning: the cost of a day, three sources of scope, why schedules built on expected durations finish late, and discovery.
20 August 20269 min read
Why pushing berth utilisation higher makes the queue worse than you expect
Terminal and berth scheduling on the queueing curve: why the last few points of utilisation cost so much, demurrage as a partial view, and picking a target.
2 September 202610 min readRefining and Petrochemicals Planning FAQs
Can DemandLabs plan around a refinery turnaround?
Turnaround weeks come off the unit's capacity in the plan, and alternative dates are compared as scenarios on margin, cash and product supply.
Are crude cargoes and tanks part of the plan?
The energy vertical covers marine operations, so cargo arrivals and tank stock are planned on one graph with the units they feed.
Can petrochemical plants plan in the same model?
Crackers and downstream polymer lines plan in the same finite-capacity solve as the refinery, with changeovers and minimum run sizes where grades switch.
How long does implementation take?
Eight weeks to the first live cycle for one planning area, with a value review with your CFO in week 10.
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Explore the segmentSee Your Turnaround Priced Before It Starts
A 45-minute walkthrough on your own data.