William Il Young Byun, CEO and Managing Director of New ASEAN Energy Inc (Singapore), member of the International Committee of the Global Energy Prize, stated this at the plenary session “Image of the Future: Forecasts and Opportunities for the Fuel and Energy Complex”, which took place at the “Oil Capital” conference in Khanty-Mansiysk.

According to him, the countries of Southeast Asia are gradually turning from ordinary crude oil consumers into regional exporters of high value-added petrochemical products. “The countries of Southeast Asia, which previously purchased crude oil for processing into fuel to supply the domestic market, are increasingly developing petrochemical production, including the production of plastic, polyethylene and other products, to supply them to the markets of the region,” – he said.

At the same time, another trend is visible, namely the gradual development of the production of bioplastics and biofuels, which will complement and develop traditional petrochemicals. In addition, the petrochemical industry is increasingly using artificial intelligence systems to optimise production. “We are facing innovations such as Big Data. Modern processing industries produce a large amount of data and the use of artificial intelligence technologies is designed to increase production efficiency,” the expert noted.