Senior Refinery Planning & Economics Analyst
Trafigura · Buenos Aires
Job Summary:
We are looking for a Senior Analyst responsible for optimizing refining margin through the economic evaluation of crudes, products and operating configurations, and for developing and executing the production schedule. The role combines economic and financial modelling, linear programming (LP) optimization and close coordination across trading, refining, logistics and commercial teams, acting as the technical reference for the team and as a strategic partner to management.
Key Responsibilities:
- Perform economic evaluations of crudes and feedstocks (assays, netbacks, differentials) and maintain valuation models to maximize refining margin.
- Build and update the LP model (PIMS) and the operating schedule (crude and unit scheduling, blending), aligned with sales, inventories and logistics constraints.
- Monitor crude, product and freight markets (Platts, Argus), identify arbitrage opportunities and margin risks, and support hedging decisions together with trading.
- Coordinate with Operations, Logistics, Trading and Commercial to ensure the plan is feasible and executed; track plan vs. actual performance and propose corrective actions.
- Support turnaround planning, assessing the economic impact and evaluating alternative supply and sales options.
- Produce executive reports and KPI dashboards (margins, yields, efficiency) and lead ad-hoc studies on new crudes and investment projects.
- Mentor and train junior analysts and contribute to the continuous improvement of the area's processes, models and tools.
Requirements:
- Degree in Engineering (Chemical, Petroleum or Industrial), Economics or a related field; a postgraduate degree (MBA or a Master's in Finance or Energy) is a plus.
- 5–8 years of experience in oil economics, refinery planning or crude and products trading, within a refining or integrated energy company.
- Proven experience with linear programming software (Aspen PIMS, Haverly GRTMPS, RPMS or similar), assay management and refinery process economics.
- Advanced Excel/VBA skills; Python, SQL or BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) and market data platforms (Platts, Argus, S&P Global) are valued.
- Advanced English.
- Strong analytical skills.
- Executive communication skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.