06-11-2019

Refining Community and Coking.com acquired by CRU

Refining Community and Coking.com, which produce RefComm®, the premier refinery training, conference, and exhibition event, have been acquired by the global metals, mining and fertilizer powerhouse CRU.

The organization, which operates Coking.com and Catcracking.com, will operate under the name RefComm®, and will continue to offer unrivaled training and field services in the delayed coking and fluid catalytic cracking sectors, while also producing the flagship event RefComm® Galveston, which draws more than 600 refiners, operators, and vendors to Galveston, Texas each year to participate in the conference, training, and exhibition. In addition, RefComm® will continue to produce conferences in other strategic locations around the globe, including Europe, Asia, and South America.

“After more than 21 years creating, growing and developing the RefComm® business with fellow co-owners Evan Hyde and Gary Pitman, I am delighted that we have found a new home with CRU.  The acquisition strengthens our position in the refining space while allowing us to continue our focus on refinery safety, new technology, and best practices, and continue to grow the conferences and field service division,” says RefComm® owner, Paul Orlowski.

CRU Chairman Robert Perlman said: “This acquisition enables CRU to take a prominent position in the refining industry conference space.  The significant move to work in field services presents further development opportunities for CRU’s continued growth.  We have an excellent fit between our two businesses, providing enhanced value for our technical customers around the world.”

With the support of CRU, RefComm will once again offer a sulfur track at RefComm® Galveston. CRU is merging their popular US Sulphur Conference into RefComm Galveston. And in addition to field consulting services for Delayed Coking (DCU), and Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCCU), RefComm will also provide Sulfur Recovery (SRU) services, which includes amine treating, sour water stripping, claus plant and tail gas.

Upcoming RefComm® events include RefComm® Mumbai, which kicks off Nov. 11 in Mumbai, India, and in 2020 RefComm® will once again produce its flagship RefComm® Galveston, drawing more than 600 attendees and 100 exhibitors and featuring Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) for the first time ever. RefComm® will also take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 22 - 25 June 2020, and GdaÅ„sk, Poland, 2 - 5 November, 2020, where we will once again offer the popular resid hydrocracking (RHCU) track.