Oil and gas refining is entering a new era, defined not only by global demand fluctuations, regulatory pressure and decarbonization targets, but also by the operational intelligence needed to keep complex refining assets running at peak performance.
The US Energy Information Administration has revealed that global refining capacity stood at around 103.5 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) in 2023. Most of the projected growth is expected to occur in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions, especially China and India. With this, global refining capacity is expected to increase between 2.6 mbbl/d and 4.9 mbbl/d by 2028.
As refinery capacity increases and coincides with the digital era, refinery maintenance is becoming a strategic differentiator.
Around the world, refineries face aging infrastructure, labor shortages, rising operating costs and increasing vulnerability to unplanned shutdowns. A 2024 article published in the World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews noted: “the oil and gas refinery maintenance industry relies heavily on outdated infrastructure to extract, transport and process hydrocarbons.” At the same time, global demand for petrochemicals, transportation fuels and specialty oils is increasing in emerging markets.
To stay ahead of the competition, operators must limit downtime, safeguard asset longevity and ensure reliability, while meeting increasingly stringent global emissions standards. This is where intelligent maintenance of oil and gas refineries is necessary, providing intelligent monitoring through predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and digital twins, among others.
For decades, refinery maintenance relied heavily on periodic inspections, manual monitoring and scheduled interventions. However, modern refineries operate far beyond the reach of these conventional methods. As the number of refineries has continuously increased in recent years, modern maintenance systems have become more comprehensive.
Aging assets and increasing risks of failure
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Many refineries around the world were built decades ago and are now operating well beyond their original designed lifespan, increasing the likelihood of equipment degradation, corrosion, and unexpected failures. In the United States alone, there are 132 operational refineries with an aggregate crude distillation capacity of about 18.4 million barrels per day, so even small disruptions can affect supply chains and markets.
Older metallurgy, legacy control systems and deferred capital replacement increase the likelihood of unplanned closures. Each incident can have a multimillion-dollar impact and materially affect local employment and tax bases. Upgrading and moving to condition-based regimes is now essential to reduce risk and protect performance.
Skills gaps and workforce demographics
The refinery and oil and gas industry in general is aging. The sector needs a workforce with digital and inspection skills, creating a capacity gap during the deployment of sophisticated condition monitoring systems. Recent industry analysis highlights a talent shortage as older, more experienced staff retire and the industry has fewer entrants. A tight talent pool means there aren’t enough employees with skills in data science, instrumentation, and remote inspection. This demographic shift drives higher labor costs for restructurings, complicates staffing for closures, and increases reliance on third-party service providers and automation to preserve institutional knowledge and maintain secure operations. Therefore, strategic retraining and knowledge transfer programs are essential.
Stricter operational, environmental and safety standards
Regulators around the world are demanding more granular reporting on emissions and incidents, and expect demonstrable risk reduction measures, including leak detection and repair programs and documented maintenance regimes. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program requires reporting on refinery-level carbon dioxide equivalent and related data; These stricter reporting and permitting expectations increase the operational burden on refineries.
At the same time, regulators and markets reward demonstrable reductions in leaks, flaring and energy intensity, so modern maintenance programs that reduce leaks, shorten timelines and reduce emissions are not only compliance measures but also strategic differentiators for operators.
Intelligent maintenance combines advanced technologies, analytics and automation. Transforms asset management from a reactive discipline to a predictive, real-time, knowledge-based discipline.
Predictive and prescriptive analytics
Instead of waiting for maintenance outages to occur, refinery operators have become smarter. Predictive and prescriptive systems detect equipment failures before they occur and enable repairs beforehand for uninterrupted workflow. In refineries, one hour of downtime can cost up to $500,000, making downtime reductions not only cost-effective but innovative. Predictive models use vibration signatures, pressure anomalies, corrosion patterns and historical failure data to forecast problems, while prescriptive analytics recommend optimal actions, spare parts and timing. This transition is dramatically reducing shutdowns of compressors, pumps, distillation units and heat exchangers.
IIoT and real-time monitoring
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has demonstrated its usefulness in monitoring through its sensors, which evaluate temperature leaks, vibrations and corrosion in real time. Real-time monitoring becomes increasingly necessary in high-risk units such as catalytic crackers and hydrotreating systems. IIoT also provides data on continuous emissions monitoring, making it easier to comply with the latest government emissions regulations. Many operators now use refinery sensor data on cloud platforms for centralized operations centers, improving situational awareness across multiple sites.
Robotics and drones for inspection
Robots and drones are becoming essential for safer and faster inspections of chimneys, boilers, tanks and pipes, areas that traditionally require scaffolding, stopping or entering confined spaces. For example, Flyability reports that its Elios drone has reduced inspections of floating production, storage and offloading tanks for Texo from 7 to 10 days per tank to two. Elsewhere, crawler robots perform non-destructive corrosion testing under insulation, without stripping the insulation. These smarter tools increase work efficiency by reducing operating costs and limiting workforce risks.
Digital twins for asset optimization
Refinery plants can be maintained and evaluated using digital twins. The technology uses live sensor data to simulate performance, detect failures and test maintenance plans, improving energy efficiency and reducing operational risk through better scenario modeling. Oil and gas major bp reported that in its first year of use, its digital twin solutions produced an additional 30,000 barrels. Refineries can investigate shutdown sequences and stimulate changes in performance or equipment configuration virtually before making adjustments in the real world, reducing trial and error costs.
Cloud-based collaborative platforms
Cloud-native platforms combine maintenance records, inspection workflows, contractor documentation, and engineering changes across global refinery networks. Cloud-based maintenance management systems offer faster completion of work orders and significantly improve visibility between teams, especially in inventory management. Cloud platforms also centralize compliance reporting, which is increasingly critical as regulators push for more frequent environmental and safety disclosures.
Oil and gas refineries are at a point where modernization is the key to meeting growing demand for crude oil while committing to sustainability. As the industry faces market volatility, increasing safety demands and increased operating costs, it is important to reconsider how refiners approach maintenance. The adoption of AI, digital twins, IIoT sensors, predictive analytics and robotics is the imminent future of the industry – the companies that adopt these technologies will be the winners.
About the author: Aashi Mishra is a electronic engineer and content developer with Research Nester, working to simplify complex aspects of the market into complete information.
“Why Modern Refinery Maintenance is Becoming a Competitive Differentiator in Oil and Gas” was created and originally published by Offshore Technology, a brand owned by GlobalData.
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