Why Refinery Compliance Capex Is the Only Capex Happening Right Now And what it means for your facility By Timothy Porritt · Porritt Inc. · August 28, 2026 The $12–15 Threshold Where Optimization Becomes Survival Crack spreads are at $12–15 per barrel. That’s not a number for spreadsheets. That’s the threshold where independent refineries stop
The most dangerous document in your facility might be the one nobody’s updated since 2019. Here’s what RAGAGEP actually requires — and what the gap costs.
If you’re a plant manager or EHS director at a refinery or chemical facility, you’ve probably asked this question: how much does RAGAGEP compliance actually cost? The answer isn’t simple — but the math of not complying is crystal clear. In 2026, a single willful OSHA PSM violation carries a maximum penalty of $165,514. Most
How Much Does RAGAGEP Compliance Cost? A 2026 Breakdown for Refineries Read More »
This paper presents NORMEX Standards AI, a framework that automates RAGAGEP gap analysis through machine learning-driven clause extraction, cross-referenced standards databases, and agentic workflows. Pilot deployment demonstrates 80%+ reduction in engineering hours per standard.
Reactors you can ship in a container — powering mines, bases, and communities off the grid Not all energy challenges are about scaling up. For remote mining operations in the Arctic, forward military bases, island communities, industrial facilities in off-grid locations, and emergency power restoration after disasters, the question is not how to power a
Nuclear Microreactors: Compact Power for Remote Places and the Military Read More »
Marine energy’s long road to commercial viability — and why it may finally arrive The world’s oceans contain an almost unimaginable quantity of kinetic and potential energy. Tidal currents driven by the gravitational pull of the moon, wave energy driven by wind across vast ocean fetches, and ocean thermal gradients represent renewable resources that, unlike
Wave and Tidal Energy: Harnessing the Ocean’s Relentless Power Read More »
The audacious plan to harvest sunlight in orbit — 24 hours a day Solar panels on Earth face an unavoidable problem: night. For roughly half of every 24-hour period, the sun is below the horizon, and even during daylight, clouds, atmosphere, and angles reduce the energy reaching ground-level panels. In space, none of these limitations
Space-Based Solar Power: Satellites That Beam Clean Energy to Earth Read More »
Enhanced geothermal systems are unlocking heat beneath our feet — wherever we need it Traditional geothermal energy is location specific. It works where the Earth’s heat is close to the surface — Iceland, the western United States, East Africa, Indonesia, and other volcanically active regions. Globally, only about 15 GW of geothermal capacity is installed,
Geothermal 2.0: Drilling Anywhere for Clean Baseload Power Read More »
How networks of home batteries and smart devices are becoming the grid’s most flexible resource Across suburban areas, millions of home solar systems, EV chargers, battery storage units, water heaters, and smart thermostats are quietly accumulating grid-interactive capability. Individually, these devices represent modest electrical loads. But aggregated through software platforms and coordinated by advanced algorithms,
Virtual Power Plants: The Distributed Grid of the Future Read More »
