In a discussion with Fulcrium, Sir Jim Ratcliffe – Founder and Chairman of INEOS – reflects on the role benchmarking plays in building world-class industrial performance.
The discussion spans petrochemicals, upstream and downstream oil & gas, operational performance, cost, safety, commercial outcomes, and the management of complex industrial systems.
Although the industries differ, a common principle emerges.
Strong performance does not necessarily mean best-in-class.
Across sophisticated industrial systems, organisations continuously improve.
Yet continuous improvement alone does not establish whether performance remains close to what is achievable.
The more important question is not:
“Are we improving?”
It is:
“What remains achievable under comparable conditions?”
That question cannot be answered through current performance alone.
Not simply as comparison, but as the discipline through which organisations establish what remains achievable.
Across petrochemicals, upstream and downstream oil & gas, and integrated industrial systems, this perspective becomes increasingly important as systems mature and operating environments evolve.
Establishing what remains achievable depends upon comparative context, longitudinal observation, system-wide visibility, and understanding how performance has evolved across comparable industrial systems over extended periods of time.
Few organisations possess and maintain visibility across all of these dimensions simultaneously, over time, and as conditions evolve.
Without that perspective, even sophisticated organisations may continue to optimise increasingly constrained interpretations of future potential.
Performance differences are rarely explained by a single decision.
They emerge through the interaction of technical disciplines, operating philosophies, investment decisions, development pathways, infrastructure configuration, and the way those decisions propagate throughout complex systems over time.
As a result, the gap between current performance and what remains achievable is often:
This is where benchmarking moves beyond measurement.
It establishes what remains achievable under comparable conditions.
It provides the comparative perspective through which opportunities that were previously difficult to recognise become visible.
Ultimately, benchmarking is not simply about understanding performance today.
It is about maintaining visibility of what remains achievable as industrial systems evolve.
Fulcrium helps hydrocarbon systems establish what remains achievable under comparable conditions – revealing opportunities for long-duration value extension.
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