Maximising refinery profits using portfolio optimisation

Making the right decisions requires an enterprise-wide view of risk, authors argue

Petroleum refining provides managers with many degrees of freedom in making operating decisions

The day-to-day operation of physical energy assets such as power plants, natural gas pipelines and physical storage facilities presents managers with a wide range of potentially profitable optimisation opportunities. These flexibilities – often referred to as ‘real options’ – have received considerable focus from trading organisations and research groups in recent years.

However, one asset class with great potential to create value through the application of dynamic optimisation and risk