While hot topic issues such as shale gas and tight oil are of current interest and rightfully receive a lot of attention and press, it is imperative to have a good understanding of key industry fundamentals in order to appreciate how these hot topic issues impact profitability. This workshop reviews key industry fundamentals starting with the foundation of the petrochemical industry – feedstocks, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil fractions, especially naphtha, coal and renewables. The feedstock session then leads into a thorough discussion of the industry building blocks – olefins (ethylene, propylene, butadiene) and aromatics (benzene, toluene, xylenes) businesses. Finally, the large volume thermoplastics including the polyethylenes (LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE), polypropylene, PVC, polystyrene and polyester/PET value chains are covered. Within each of these topics key suppliers, demand profiles and pricing is discussed. Especially important for industry newcomers is that our instructors will clarify the technical jargon commonly used in the petrochemical industry.
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