• What is crude oil refining?
  • Petroleum refineries convert (refine) crude oil into petroleum products for use as fuels for transportation, heating, paving roads, and generating electricity and as feedstocks for making chemicals. Refining breaks crude oil down into its various components, which are then selectively reconfigured into new products.
  • Why do refineries produce more than crude oil?
  • The total volume of products that refineries produce (output) is greater than the volume of crude oil that refineries process (input) because most of the products they make have a lower density than the crude oil they process. This increase in volume is called processing gain. The average processing gain at U.S. refineries was about 6.3% in 2023.
  • How many gallons does a barrel of crude oil produce?
  • You might have noticed that while a barrel of crude oil contains 42 gallons, it ends up producing 45 gallons of refined products. This is because the majority of refined products have a lower density than crude oil, resulting in an increase in volume that is called processing gain.
  • How do refineries choose the best crude oil feedstock?
  • Considering the market drivers just reviewed along the small profit margins that are often usually associated with petroleum refinery products, refineries should carefully select the crude oil feedstock and configure the refinery processes such that they produce the desirable petroleum products at the lowest cost.
  • How long does it take to refine crude oil?
  • The process of refining a 30,000-barrel batch of crude oil typically takes between 12-24 hours, with refineries operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
  • How much is a barrel of crude oil?
  • Prices of crude oil are measured in barrels, while production totals across all producing countries are measured in million barrels per day (mmbd). The average oil price was $57/barrel in 2019, but in the past decade have been as high as $110/barrel and as low as $30/barrel. What Products Are Made From a Barrel of Crude Oil?