LARTC 2026
Operational transformation through digital production accounting at YPF
Adrian Cantaloube, Andrés Gordon, Emiliano Picconi, Daniel Weber, and Adriana Neri YPF Federico Neira and Santiago Orellano KBC (A Yokogawa Company)
utilising the systems, applications, and products (SAP) connector for commercial data, the plant historian for measured val- ues, and careful alignment of authentica- tion and server connectivity. These details proved as critical to the timeline as the accounting itself. Beyond Accounting: Energy and Emissions Once a trusted balance was in place, it became a platform rather than an endpoint. The solution was extended beyond tradi- tional production accounting to support energy performance indicators, green- house gas emissions tracking, and config- urable tank loss and evaporation models at multiple time resolutions. Since these cal- culations draw on the same reconciled bal- ance, energy and emissions figures inherit did you know? A trusted mass balance is the foundation for energy and emissions performance
For any refinery, the mass balance is the single source of truth. It underpins crude allocation, custody transfer, inventory val- uation, loss detection and, increasingly, the energy and emissions reporting that regulators and shareholders now expect. When the tool that produces that balance reaches the limits of its intended lifecycle, every downstream decision inherits the uncertainty, and the cost grows with the size and complexity of the site. That was the starting point for YPF. Argentina’s largest refiner set out to replace an ageing production accounting system with a unified, auditable framework for hydrocarbon management, improving reconciliation quality, measurement valida- tion, and the governance of material move- ments through process units, tanks, and logistics. Working with KBC, YPF deployed a modern Production Accounting solution in a deliberately sequenced programme: first at Complejo Industrial Plaza Huincul (CIPH), then at Complejo Industrial Lujan de Cuyo (CILC), and finally at Complejo Industrial La Plata (CILP) (Figure 1 ), its flagship refinery and one of South America’s most complex downstream facilities. A Phased, Risk-Aware Rollout The sequence was not accidental. By starting at a smaller, less complex site and finishing at CILP, the team could apply the lessons of each deployment to the next, derisking the most demanding installation rather than learning on it. Each site refined the configuration templates, workshop format, and validation approach inherited from the one before, so that the largest and most complex refinery benefited from a method already tested twice ( Figure 2 ). That discipline mattered because the programme required extensive coordina- tion across multiple disciplines, alignment of common requirements, adaptation of established practices, and comprehensive training and change-management activi- ties, all while the refineries continued oper- ating. The response was consistent: phased deployment, focused working sessions, and iterative validation cycles that surfaced issues early and kept stakeholders aligned. Building a Trusted Mass Balance At the core of the programme was a rec- onciled, auditable hydrocarbon mass bal- ance. Rather than treating reconciliation as a periodic accounting chore, the solution validates measurements continuously and governs every material movement –charges and production at the process units, tank movements, and logistics in and out of the sites. The result is a balance that the oper- ations, planning, and fiscal-control teams can all stand behind, with a clear audit trail from raw measurement to reported figure. Getting there required close integration with YPF’s data landscape. This involved
Figure 1 La Plata Refinery, YPF
Lessons learned Each site applied the lessons of the previous deployment – de-risking the largest, most complex re nery Lessons learned
CIPH First deployment
CILC Lessons applied
CILP Largest & most complex Proven method applied to Argentina’s largest downstream facilit ies
Framework established: templates & workshop format created
Con guration and validation re ned from CIPH experience
Trusted hydrocarbon mass balance
Energy performance indicators
GHG emissions tracking
ISO 14064 readiness
Figure 2 Phased, risk-aware deployment across YPF’s refining system. Source: YPF–KBC
0.5% Monthly unaccounted losses/processed crude oil
Crude charges in Topping unit considering a percentage of T3 average charges
1.5% Monthly losses/processed crude oil
110
108
Reconciled Measured
106
60.0
48.5
104
50.0
102
36.4
40.0
100
30.0
98
96
20.0
11.9
94
10.0
3.1
92
0.0
Tank evaporations
Claus losses
Flares
CO vents
90
Emissions by source ( p ercentage of Tn CO eq)
Total energy consumed considering a percentage of T3 total energy consumed
Acid gas ares 1%
Sweet gas are 4%
100
CO vents 2%
Topping 3 Topping 4
FCC Coke 19%
10
Fuel gas 62%
Electric energy 5%
1
Low pressure steam
Medium pressure steam
Fuel gas
Natural gas
Electric energy
High pressure steam
Natural gas 7%
Figure 3 YPF production accounting data: CILC, May 2026
13
Powered by FlippingBook