Eric Lingman

Eric Lingman

Senior Associate

Eric Lingman has over 40 years of experience delivering commercial, technical, and strategic solutions across the refining sector and the broader hydrocarbon value chain. 

Eric began his career as a process engineer at ARCO where he designed and implemented the first automated inline gasoline blending system. He went on to co-invent Arco EC1, the first commercially produced environmentally clean gasoline. This early work in clean fuels, including production of the prototype ultra-low sulfur CARB diesel, earned multiple company, industry, and governmental awards.  Subsequently, he developed the blueprint for converting a heritage conventional refinery into the first 100% clean fuels refinery using the PIMS Linear programming system.  Later, as the refinery blender, his rules-based methodology became the foundation for what evolved into the industry-standard PIMS scheduling suite of tools. Eric then advanced into leadership roles in strategy, supply, optimization, and commercial development with BP, Tesoro/Andeavor, Island Energy Services, and Advisian/Worley Consulting. These roles gave him the opportunity to live overseas in London, Moscow, and Hawaii.   

As a consultant and senior executive, Eric has led projects spanning refinery configuration of green field projects, reconfiguration and optimization of existing refineries, decarbonization strategy, sustainable aviation fuel, direct air capture, capital project development, market analysis, and business transformation. His expertise includes value chain optimization, regulatory compliance, and technology evaluation, with a strong record of measurable performance improvement and innovative problem-solving. 

Eric holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach; a BA in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine; and an MBA in Business Economics from the University of Southern California.

Contributions

Economics

Low Tanks, High Margins: Why Product Cracks Are at Records, and How Long They Are Likely to Last

September 9, 2026

“Refining margins are at all-time highs! $100 cracks! Buy refining stocks?!” We’ve seen the heady buzz around refinery cracks and stock performance. Checking the stocks, the four major American refiners are in fact all up over 100% in the past 12 months, well outperforming the S&P 500 (except P66, but 96% is close!). Major U.S....

Refinery Optimization

UNLOCK – Improving Downstream Profitability with Low Capex, High Impact Initiatives 

March 10, 2026

Downstream operators are continuously being asked to deliver more with the assets they already have. Yet with volatile markets, evolving crude slates, logistical constraints, and limited capital budgets, most downstream businesses still carry significant untapped margin potential –value obscured by organizational silos, inherited operating assumptions, and KPIs that no longer reflect today’s environment.   Stillwater’s UNLOCK is designed to surface this hidden value....