Advancing excellence in refining operations

Refining is one of the most complex and safetycritical activities in the energy value chain. In 2025, Vitol introduced the Refinery Operations Management System — ROMS — to bring a single, coherent standard to every refinery in which it has a stake. ROMS translates the principles of Vitol’s ESG framework into clear, actionable operational requirements that sites can embed into their everyday routines.

Spanning eight core dimensions, from infrastructure and asset integrity through to health, safety, environmental compliance, risk management, and performance measurement, ROMS sets out the minimum expectations that apply across all geographies. It establishes a common set of ‘red lines’ on issues such as process safety, emergency preparedness and the management of hazardous substances, providing every refinery with a consistent baseline.

The first phase of the roll-out, completed during 2025, concentrated on assessing each refinery’s current maturity against ROMS to identify gaps and defining tailored improvement plans.A key feature of ROMS is its benchmarking programme. Through a combination of qualitative assessments and quantitative KPIs, covering safety incidents, operational availability, energy efficiency, maintenance costs and more, each refinery can compare its performance with peers inside the Vitol network. Sites can therefore see where they stand, learn from top performers and channel resources where they will have the greatest impact.

ROMS is designed to complement, not replace, local laws and regulations. Legal compliance always comes first. The standard exists to ensure that every Vitol-linked refinery operates to consistently high standards of safety, environmental stewardship and long-term performance.