Senior Refinery Planning & Economics Analyst

About the role

Trafigura is looking for a Senior Analyst in its Buenos Aires office who will optimize refining margins by economically evaluating crudes, products and operating configurations, and by developing and running the production schedule. The role combines economic and financial modelling, linear programming (LP) optimisation and close coordination with trading, refining, logistics and commercial teams, acting as technical reference for the team and strategic partner to management.

Key responsibilities

• Evaluate crudes and feedstocks (assays, netbacks, differentials) and maintain valuation models to maximise refining margin.
• Build and update the LP model (PIMS) and the operating schedule (crude and unit scheduling, blending), aligned with sales, inventory and logistics constraints.
• Monitor crude, product and freight markets (Platts, Argus), identify arbitrage opportunities and margin risks, and support hedging decisions with trading.
• Coordinate with Operations, Logistics, Trading and Commercial to make the plan feasible, track plan versus actual performance and propose corrective actions.
• Support turnaround planning, assess its economic impact and evaluate alternative supply and sales options.
• Produce executive reports and KPI dashboards (margins, yields, efficiency) and lead ad-hoc studies on new crudes and investment projects.
• Mentor and train junior analysts and help improve the area's processes, models and tools.

Required profile

• Degree in Chemical, Petroleum or Industrial Engineering, Economics or a related field; a postgraduate degree (MBA or Master's in Finance or Energy) is a plus.
• 5-8 years of experience in oil economics, refinery planning or crude and products trading, within a refining or integrated energy company.
• Advanced English and strong analytical and executive communication skills.

Required skills

• Proven experience with linear programming software (Aspen PIMS, Haverly GRTMPS, RPMS or similar), assay management and refinery process economics.
• Advanced Excel/VBA; Python, SQL or BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) and market data platforms (Platts, Argus, S&P Global) are valued.