The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has undertaken development of a new refining sector model for its National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), to replace and improve upon the existing Petroleum Market Module (PMM), which has been in use for more than thirty years. At EIA’s request, MathPro prepared a White Paper identifying and discussing technical issues bearing on the requirements, capabilities, and design of the new refinery modeling system.

The White Paper addresses seven topics:

• An overall perspective on refinery modeling


• Requirements for the LFMM modeling platform and associated software


• Requirements for the LFMM’s long-term forecasting applications (AEOs and IEOs)


• Requirements for the LFMM’s special studies applications


• Design elements of refining sector models tailored to each set of applications


• Model calibration


• Representation of advanced bio-fuel supply within the LFMM

MathPro presented and discussed the White Paper at an EIA workshop on LFMM requirements and design.