Revolutionising the downstream
Industrial AI will allow plants to reach their autonomous potential
Reactiveness, resilience and reliability are becoming increasingly important in the refining industry. As a result of fluctuating pricing and demand, the safety, logistics, environmental impact and economics of new scenarios must be analysed daily. Sustaining stable operations and improving competitive advantage will come down to reacting as quickly as possible to real-time analysis while factoring in resilience and reliability. The ultimate vision for the industry is the self-optimising, autonomous plant—and the increasing deployment of AI across the sector is bringing this closer to reality. However, while refining has been an early adopter of many digital tools, the industry has yet to fu
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The global gas industry is no longer on the backfoot, hesitantly justifying the value of its product, but has greater confidence in gas remaining a core part of the global energy mix for decades
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With marketable supply unlikely to grow significantly and limited scope for pipeline imports, Brazil is expected to continue relying on LNG to cover supply shortfalls, Ieda Gomes, senior adviser of Brazilian thinktank FGV Energia,
tells Petroleum Economist
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
