On September 15, 2016, the winners of this year’s Petroleum Economist Awards were presented with their awards at a ceremony held in London, at the Banking Hall, in the presence of industry representatives. The aim of the Petroleum Economist Awards is to celebrate the people, companies, and projects that embody the best in energy and to reward examples of innovation and excellence. In addition to MOL Group, this year’s winners include ENI for Company of the Year in Exploration and Repsol for Petrochemical Company of the Year.
The award for Best Downstream Company recognizes the implementation of a clear business strategy, achievement of business objectives, commitment to employee development, and an innovative approach to solving business challenges. Ferenc Horváth, Executive Vice President of MOL Group for Refining, stated:
– We are honored to receive such a prestigious award that recognizes the successful implementation of our business strategy and our operational excellence. MOL Group’s Downstream began its ambitious journey in 2011 with a strong focus on improving internal efficiency and significant growth in retail and petrochemical operations. We strongly rely on and believe in the expertise and dedication of our people, and we are convinced that people are key to the success of any business strategy. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our colleagues for their contributions. We will continue to build on these foundations and are well-positioned to achieve further long-term growth in an increasingly fast-changing external environment.
In 2015, MOL Group’s Downstream achieved its historically best result with a clean CCS EBITDA of $1.65 billion and strong cash flow generation of over $1 billion. Almost half of the EBITDA amount was the result of cumulative effects from MOL Group’s internal efficiency improvement programs. The New Downstream Program (2012-2014), which aimed to improve EBITDA by $500 million, was designed as the first group-level initiative aimed at improving internal operations and responding to an unfavorable external environment.
The program covered all elements of the integrated value chain from crude oil selection, through refining and petrochemical operations, to wholesale and retail. After the successful implementation of the program, in an environment where competition is increasing, demand is stagnating, and capacities are excessive, MOL Group decided to respond to further strengthen its profitability and competitiveness by launching the New Downstream Program 2015-2017 (NxDSP). The program aims to achieve an additional improvement of $500 million, to which MOL Group’s strategic development projects in petrochemical operations and retail will contribute $150 million.
Significant growing improvements achieved through NxDSP could result in a profitability increase of $3 per barrel by 2017. This week, MOL Group also announced that it has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, placing the company in the top 15% of integrated oil and gas companies based on corporate sustainability. MOL Group is the only company from Central Eastern Europe included in the index.
