Prospects of refinery switching from conventional to integrated: An opportunity for sustainable investment in the petrochemical industry

•The emerging virgin crude-to-chemicals technology (CTC) can provide an opportunity for integrating operational refineries with chemicals.•Producing sustainable feed for the chemical and petrochemicals.•The refinery feedstocks have a gradual shift toward heavier crudes and residue.•A combination of both thermal and catalytic processes can also be used to achieve the effective utilization.