• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Horace Hobbs

Phillips 66

Chief Economist

Horace Hobbs, Chief Economist, Phillips 66, joined the company in October 2013. Mr. Hobbs is primarily focused on long-range planning and capital allocation for the global portfolio of Phillips 66 businesses. He has spent his entire thirty-year career in the energy industry, primarily as a management consultant and an operating executive. Prior to joining Phillips 66, Mr. Hobbs was Managing Director of Muse Stancil & Co., a boutique, global consulting firm, where he was focused on downstream strategy and provided a broad array of merger, acquisition, and divestiture advisory services. He also provided industry analysis and business planning support for operating companies, project and technology developers, equity investors, and financial institutions. Mr. Hobbs spent five years as part of the start-up executive team for Longhorn Pipeline and was previously employed as a downstream industry consultant at Wright Killen & Co. and The Pace Consultants (Now Jacobs Consultancy). He spent the early years of his career as a chemical engineer involved in process design and advanced process control applications. He has testified as a downstream industry expert before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), The California Public Utility Commission, and the National Energy Board of Canada. He regularly addresses a variety of audiences on topics related to global energy markets and economics. Mr. Hobbs holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Houston and is licensed by the state of Texas to practice engineering.

Sessions With Horace Hobbs

Tuesday, 10 March

  • 11:30am - 12:30pm (CST) / -

    IMO: From sulfur limits to carbon limits
    Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals

    Accommodating the recent International Maritime Organization (IMO)-mandated changes to sulfur regulations has tested the ability of both the shipping and refining industries to remodel operations on a very tight deadline, with knock-on effects impacting supply/demand balances worldwide. Just over two months into the low-sulfur bunker era, and only ten days after the carriage ban, the maritime and fuel supply industries are adjusting to this new reality. How has the transition gone so far, and what is expected this year and next? What are the key lessons from the IMO sulfur specification changes—for both refining and shipping? Once the sulfur cap is digested, shipping cannot sit still and needs to move on to its main course, decarbonization. The challenge of simultaneously meeting growing energy demand and reducing GHG emissions has created the platform for a radical energy transition. What is the route to 2050?