2nd Annual Plant Shutdown and Turnaround Management to update TAR professionals with the latest practices in turnarounds

The 2nd Annual Plant Shutdown and Turnaround Management, to be held from 9 - 11 October 2012, at Sharq Village in Doha - State of Qatar, stages a platform for TAR professionals to equip themselves with the necessary skills for optimising productivity and costs involved in carrying out an efficient plant turnaround. The tailor-made Technical Interactive Worksops will essentially dwell on challenges related to identifying the key improvement areas, analysing them and devising solutions to overcome the same.

Featuring workshop leaders from across the globe, the event will host technical sessions covering topics like Plant Turnaround philosophy, Work package development, Workface planning, The role of Knowledge management and The 13 steps of the Critical Operations STO Support System. Participating companies include Qatar Petroleum, BP, Qatargas Operating Company Ltd , Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (SAFCO) , Gulf Of Suez Petroleum Co. and ADCO among others.

According to a recent article featured on NASDAQ - "Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) reported an unplanned maintenance on July 11 at its refinery in Beaumont, Texas. The company did not specify which unit was being taken off line". The importance of a planned shutdown cannot be stressed enough. This gives rise to the most important question of all - What steps should companies undertake to assess, efficiently plan, and execute turnarounds?

Dr. Zulkipli Bin Ghazali, Senior Lecturer at the Center for Organizational and Cultural Studies of Oil and Gas Business at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS- Malaysia, precisely points out that "Plant turnaround maintenance is a multi-faceted process comprising of three broad elements of engineering, business, and organisation. It has significant impact to the bottom-line of the company. As such successful performance of the turnaround maintenance implementation is not an option. Turnaround philosophy provides the underpinning thoughts meant to guide the process of implementation of the turnaround maintenance. It reflects the commitment of the company to ensuring reliable and efficient operations".