Crude oil is a naturally occurring liquid fossil fuel, an unrefined petroleum product composed primarily of hydrocarbons, along with some sulphur, nitrogen, and oxygen. It is found in underground reservoirs. Crude oil is also referred to as ‘petroleum,’ or ‘black gold,’ or simply ‘oil.’
Crude oil is formed from the remains of ancient marine organisms that were buried under layers of sediment and subjected to intense heat and pressure over millions of years.
Crude oil is extracted from the ground through wells or through oil sands. After crude oil is extracted from the ground, it is then refined into various products like gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil, and other related products such as asphalt for paving roads, generating electricity, or petrochemical feedstocks for making chemicals and plastics.
Oil refineries also improve the quality of crude oil by removing impurities and unwanted components. Refineries also often blend different refined products and additives to create specific fuels with desired chemical properties.
There are currently 825 active oil refineries in the world, with plans for 181 additional units by 2030. While a significant number of refineries are located in the USA, Europe, and the Middle East, Asia is home to the largest number of operational oil refineries and also has the most refinery expansion projects in the pipeline.
Which Country Has The Largest Oil Refinery In The World?
India has the largest oil refinery in the world. The Jamnagar Refinery, situated in Jamnagar, Gujarat, is the world’s largest oil refinery. It is owned by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
The Jamnagar Refinery, commissioned on 14 July 1999, is the most complex single-site refinery in the world. It can process 1.4 million barrels per day (MMBPD) of crude and has a complexity index of 21.1, the highest in the world.
The Jamnagar refinery also boasts the largest petcoke gasifier in the world, designed to run on both coal and petcoke. The refinery also houses some of the world’s largest units of paraxylene, polypropylene, refinery off-gas cracker, fluidised catalytic cracker, alkylation, and coker.
It is the only refinery in the world that has processed over 216 different grades of crude oil produced in the world, as stated on the official website of RIL.
The Jamnagar refinery is the largest integrated petrochemical producer in India and the largest integrated polyester producer in the world. It also ranks among the top five producers of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Polypropylene (PP) in the world. It ranks third globally in Paraxylene (PX) production.
India’s Petroleum Industry
The first oil well dug in Digboi, Assam, in 1867 marked the beginning of India’s petroleum journey. As per government data, India has nineteen Public-Sector Undertaking (PSU) refineries, three Private- Sector refineries, and one Joint Venture refinery. India’s oil refining capacity increased from 215.066 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) in April 2014 to 256.816 MMTPA in April 2024. India ranks among the top five oil-refining nations globally.
