Yokogawa signs global reseller license agreement with Chevron for PETRO Planning Technology

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has announced that it has entered into a strategic agreement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to resell PETRO, Chevron’s proprietary petroleum supply chain planning software. The application supports decision-making regarding feedstock selection, operations parameters, and product mix optimisation, as well as future scenario analysis, at a multi-plant level. Yokogawa’s wholly-owned subsidiary, KBC, will manage the PETRO business with Chevron.

KBC is a world leader in process simulation and optimisation, as well as supply chain scheduling, and will make the PETRO planning application available as part of its supply chain optimisation portfolio. It is anticipated that this combination of the simulation, planning and scheduling technologies will enable oil refiners and petrochemical producers to take a rigorous, holistic approach to managing their process operations – from feedstock receipt through processing and blending to quality control and outbound logistics as well as utilities and environmental aspects.

PETRO has over 30 years’ development history at Chevron, and has been implemented throughout the company’s global operations for key operational decision-making. “We attribute over $40 million per year in benefits from our use of PETRO in a typical refinery,” explains Walt Szopiak, vice president of Downstream Technology & Services at Chevron Energy Technology Company. “This agreement with Yokogawa is consistent with our on-going commitment to further evolve and refine this vital application.”

Recognising that customer issues are requiring more complex, customised, organisation-wide solutions, in 2017 Yokogawa introduced its industrial automation business concept, Synaptic Business Automation, which creates sustainable value by connecting everything within customers’ organisations. Supply chain optimisation is one key area where Yokogawa is integrating its business and domain knowledge with digital automation technologies, and co-innovating with customers to drive their business process transformation.

Satoru Kurosu, Yokogawa’s executive vice president and headof the Premium Solutions and Service Business Headquarters comments, “As a main automation contractor, Yokogawa has had a trusting and mutually beneficial relationship with Chevron over many years. We are proud to announce this agreement today because this major addition to the KBC portfolio will now enable customers in the energy and chemical industries to take advantage of sophisticated, end-to-end supply chain optimisation solutions.”