2024 ESG Report FINAL - Report - Page 38
Process Safety and Reliability
Our process safety and reliability programs proactively
contribute to our goal of operational excellence.
These programs provide safeguards for certifying
our equipment is correctly designed, regularly
maintained and safely operated. Valero employs
an industry-leading technical process safety and
reliability assessment program to drive 昀椀rst-quartile
reliability performance and help maintain the safety
of our employees and communities. We continue to
evaluate and utilize state-of-the-art process control
and equipment monitoring technology to optimize
operations ef昀椀ciency.
Through CTEMS, we have mature processes in place to
analyze PSEs. Understanding the reasons for a PSE is the
昀椀rst step. We then take necessary actions to prevent
repeat failures, address unreliable equipment or
improve speci昀椀c program expectations to ensure safe
and reliable operations.
Valero began developing a suite of technical
assessments over 10 years ago to inform the annual
strategic resource planning process and ensure
continuous improvements are made in the most
impactful areas. Below is a list of some of the most
mature technical assessments and focus areas:
•
•
•
•
MAIN – Inspection and mechanical integrity.
ESARN – Electrical systems.
ROTO – Rotating equipment.
PACE – Process automation and controls
effectiveness.
• CYBER – Cybersecurity.
• AOE – Alkylation operations excellence.
• ORA – Operational reliability.
These assessments leverage the expertise of
our technical subject matter experts who work
alongside site champions to evaluate the design and
effectiveness of each site’s speci昀椀c reliability programs.
The results identify areas of opportunity, which
are prioritized to help each site achieve our overall
operational excellence goals. Many of our more mature
assessments were updated in 2023 to account for
progress driven through our CTEMS annual focus areas
and site-speci昀椀c improvement plans. These updated
assessments will allow priorities and resources to shift to
remaining opportunities and new emerging issues.
Mechanical Availability
Our high mechanical availability rate is a result of our highly reliable re昀椀nery operations and is
underpinned by our CTEMS expectations of:
• Avoiding unplanned downtime.
• Implementing our structured turnaround
planning process.
• Minimizing environmental impacts.
2023
BEST YEAR EVER FOR
• Ensuring ef昀椀cient use of resources.
MECHANICAL
AVAILABILITY
In addition to our capital investments in reliability, our comprehensive reliability assessments,
proprietary management systems and internal strategic planning process are essential in the
reduction of environmental incidents and improving safety.
In 2023, we achieved 97.4% re昀椀ning mechanical availability
making it a new best-ever performance.
97.4%
97.5%
97.0%
96.5%
96.0%
95.5%
95.0%
2010
38
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
