Manuel Pacheco

About Manuel Pacheco

Experienced refinery optimization professional and operations leader with track record at multiple operating sites in North America, Europe and Asia. Strong working knowledge of Refinery LP (Linear Programming) models, projects and investment business case development and project commissioning. Passion for collaborative work and team effort across different functions of the organization as well as for mentoring and developing others. Career covers five years at the Venezuelan State Oil Company, followed by six years in Europe as a Senior Consultant working for oil refineries worldwide on a variety of Commercial Optimization projects as consultant and team lead. Have worked for the last ten years in North America at the BP Cherry Point Refinery and Whiting Refinery in Indiana. Have carried out project development work from conception through to commissioning spanning from small commercial projects for unit improvements/debottlenecking to large unit revamps. Have been accountable for FEED and interface with technology licensors. Experience in renewables feedstock co-processing and SAF production testing. Strong experience on Strategy Development, emissions reductions project implementation and operations leadership.Track record on cross-team collaborative work aimed at capturing commercial opportunities around Hydrocarbon Supply and Buy/Sell optionality. Interfacing with Crude Supply Coordinator, Traders, Asset Economist, Schedulers and Operations is a key part of current professional interactions.

Experience

1. Senior Manager, Front-end Development, Ohio Refineries

   Cenovus Energy

   Nov 2025 — Present

   I work collaboratively with my team, the asset, operations, SME’s and discipline engineers to identify and develop investments to reduce our risk, improve our reliability and grow the business.We support our two refineries in Ohio; Toledo and Lima, alongside associated logistics assets.

Education

• Universidad Metropolitana (VE)

  Bachelor's Degree, Chemical Engineering

  1987 — 1991

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Chemical Engineering

  1995 — 1998

• The University of Texas at Austin

  Master's Degree, Chemical Engineering

  1993 — 1995

Skills

• Refining
• Linear Programming
• Hydroprocessing
• Petroleum
• Process Design
• Energy
• Energy Efficiency
• Team Leadership
• Process Improvement
• Heat Transfer
• Chemical Engineering
• Refineries
• Fractionation
• Petrochemical
• Process Engineering
• Hazop Study
• Refinery
• Engineering
• Operations Management
• Downstream Oil & Gas
• Capital Projects
• Process Simulation
• Gas