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Houston, TX, USA, 5/29/02: May 29th
saw members of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of
Greater Houston (IACCGH) and the American Society of
Indian Engineers (ASIE) get together to hear Dr. Krishna
Rao of Exxon-Mobil talk about the “Petrochemical
Trends of this Century”. The packed event,
held at Westin Oaks, had notable attendees such as
Consul General Rinzing Wangdi and his wife Mrs. Pema
Wangdi.
Dr. Rao,
who is a Technology Asset Management Specialist at Exxon
Mobil Chemical Company, has 36 years of diversified
industrial experience in commodity, specialty,
petrochemicals, refinery and polymer businesses.
Dr. Rao’s business experience includes holding
management, technical and consulting positions in a
broad spectrum of companies.
Dr. Rao’s technical background includes an MS
in Chemical Engineering, MS in Polymer Science, DBM and
a Doctoral Degree in Chemical Engineering.
Dr. Rao has authored close to 20 technical
publications, has 20 patents and has made several
technical and business presentations both in the
U.S.
and overseas. He
was the president and trustee of
India
Culture
Center
and is currently the director of Indo American Political
Action Committee and the Asian Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Rao was the recipient of community service
awards from ICC and SACC. He is also a member of the
Mayoral Advisory Board for International Affairs and
Development.
Dr. Rao
presented an overview of the Petrochemical trends,
mixing humor with factual information. He said that the
Chemical Industry, which is about 2 trillion dollars in
size, is strong, innovative and growing.
He indicated that this Industry is roughly equal
to the GNP of France and is about 3% of annual global
wealth creation. The petrochemical sector accounts for
about half the chemical industry- about one trillion
dollars worth.
The 21st
century is expected to usher in huge opportunities for
value creation and challenges in profitable growth.
Technological innovations, the convergence of gas, power
and the petrochemical sectors, environmental issues,
structural changes and societal expectations are
projected to shape the industry’s course. Thus, change
is the main constant on which we can count, and to
remain successful, one must have a vision for success
that will encompass sound strategy and perfect
execution. He touched upon the merger and consolidation
strategies of the petrochemical industry to enhance
value. The petrochemical industry, like other
industries, is going through a sweeping change of
mergers, acquisitions and consolidations. These
activities are responses to the strong focus of change,
notably the increased pace of technological change and
globalization of markets. He indicated that the creation
of free trade zones, the emergence of a global
marketplace, deregulation, access to low cost feedstock
at regions such as the Middle East, Africa etc. have
transformed the mantra of the business to be a
consistent and global provider. He also indicated that
while most of the companies are consolidating to be the
most efficient low cost global providers, a few
companies like Monsanto, Hoechst and Novartis are
realigning assets totally to new frontiers of science-
Life Science.
With
clarity and in a very simplistic fashion, he described
the birth of inorganic chemistry (rock science during
the renaissance), the discovery of organic chemistry
during the 1800s and 1900s and finally the discovery of
petrochemicals in the 1920s which has further witnessed
rapid exponential growth due to the information and
computer age. Thus the computer has transformed us from
the horse and buggy days to the age of automobiles. He
pointed out that, at every stage, technology has been
the strategic weapon and solution provider and will
continue to be the ‘winner’ for this century too.
Dr.
Rao’s views of the petrochemical trends for the future
in a nutshell are; Methane will become the next
feedstock source for petrochemicals. Energy and
Chemical Industries which have been intimately
intertwined since the 1700s (Wood in 1700, coal in 1800,
Oil in 1900) may see a paradigm shift and breakaway for
this intimate interdependence, as there is a good
possibility for Hydrogen fuel to replace oil as an
energy source by the end of this century, if costs can
be brought down as it meets the societal expectations
criteria. He said that one needs to be innovative and
creative as technology development goal is not to
perfect the “known” but rather imperfectly venture
into the “Unknown” for capturing the “Prize”.
In
short, he sees a bright future within the grasps of
petrochemical producers and he sees unlimited
opportunities along with challenges brought about by
global and societal expectations. He concluded that
technology would be the strategic weapon that will be
used to protect our environment, and satisfy societal
demands and companies who have a vision, sound strategy
and execute it perfectly, will be the ultimate winners.
Dr.
Rao’s talk was followed by a spirited round of
questions and answers regarding the future of natural
Gas, Wind energy, Solar energy and on the requirement of
infrastructure for methane (NG) conversion across the
world from source to consumer. The views expressed here
are those of Dr. Rao and do not reflect any opinions
held by Exxon Mobil.
The
evening ended with Chitra Shanbhogue, Executive Director
of IACCGH and Sanjay Ramabhadran of ASIE, thanking the
guests and introducing the new members of IACCGH- Mr.
G.S. Dugal of AIB-VINSCOTTE and Dr. Ven Pinjala of ASPEN
Technologies.
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