# Refining and reforming

Turning crude oil and gas into fuels and hydrogen.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/

Conversion and use · Fuel processing · No. 109

- Conversion and use
 Conversion and use · Fuel processing · Foundation · Energy

A refinery burns roughly a tenth of every barrel just to rebuild the rest into petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

Chart: Illustration: Refining and reforming

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Crude is a soup of thousands of hydrocarbons; heating it in a tall column lets each fraction condense at its own height. A US refinery gets about 19 to 20 gallons of petrol per 42-gallon barrel.

##### Three things to know

1. Atmospheric distillation uses about five times its theoretical minimum energy, and the US DOE sees about 30% savings possible plant-wide.
2. Every kilogram of hydrogen made from methane releases at least 5.5 kg of CO2 from the feed carbon alone.
3. Almost 100 Mt of hydrogen was made in 2024, but less than 1% of it was low-emission.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Crude or gas**Crude oil, natural gas or coal arrives
2. 2 **Distillation**Fired heaters and columns split by boiling point
3. 3 **Cracking**Catalysts break heavy molecules into lighter fuels
4. 4 **Upgrading**Reforming and hydrotreating lift octane, remove sulphur
5. 5 **Fuels and hydrogen**Petrol, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, hydrogen

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and limits](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/science/index.md)
- [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/valuechain/index.md)
- [Unit economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/economics/index.md)
- [Engineering methods](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/methods/index.md)
- [Equipment and suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/equipment/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_refining/links/index.md)