Benoît Decouvelaere

Benoît Decouvelaere took up his position as SVP Refining&Petrochemicals Orient and Growth at TotalEnergies in April, 2026. A graduate of École Polytechnique (Engineering, France) with a master of science obtained at IFPEN school (France) and McGill University (Canada), he has accumulated thirty years of experience in the refining and petrochemicals industry. Benoît Decouvelaere is a member of the Managing Director Committee of TotalEnergies Refining & Chemicals Branch. From 2024 onward, he served as Senior Vice President Polymers, in charge of the global polymers business of TotalEnergies. He was previously Managing Director of the Donges Refinery (2021-2024, France), where he oversaw a major turnaround and a large scale modernization program. Before this, he held a head office position in charge of refineries economic optimization and supply in France, and later across the entire European perimeter. In this role, he notably contributed to the creation of a transverse supply organization for TotalEnergies’ biofuels activities and led innovative digital projects (for example, the use of blockchain for biofuels traceability). Benoît Decouvelaere also served as Operations Manager for Yemen LNG from 2014 to 2016. From 2009 to 2014, he was Deputy Director of Petrochemicals Operations at the Normandy platform (France). At the start of his career, he held various positions in process optimization, production, and project management for polyethylene and polypropylene units, in France and Belgium. Aged 51, he is married and has two children.

Session Overview

Tuesday, 3 November

14:05

Downstream, Chemicals & Industrial Value Chains Plenary Hall B 14:05 - 14:35

Global refining: navigating supply disruption and structural market pressure

Global refining capacity is shifting towards large-scale integrated complexes in the Middle East and Asia, while older facilities in Europe and mature markets close or convert. Supply disruptions in 2026 have exposed dependence on concentrated supply routes, limited spare capacity and crude-slate inflexibility, compressing margins and forcing operational adjustments across refining systems. Managing these conditions requires refiners to make difficult trade-offs between utilisation, feedstock access and product slate strategy in real time. Regional disparities in refining economics are widening, and operators are drawing on inventories and re-optimising configurations to protect margins and maintain stability as disruption moves from episodic to structural. Refiners that build operational flexibility and commercial adaptability into their systems will sustain performance where others face margin deterioration and output constraints.

Attendee Insights:
Understand how refining leaders are managing critical trade-offs to protect margins and sustain market position through prolonged supply disruption.