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Refining
Refining
Committed to efficiency and value creation
Committed to efficiency and value creation
Our commitment to innovation allows us to have pioneering refining assets in terms of technology, which makes them more efficient and safe. Furthermore, the location of our industrial complexes has an important logistical advantage, since they provide access to the two most important European distribution points: the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Main figures
Main figures
We have one of the most innovative and efficient refining systems, which enables us to transform crude oil and various alternative raw materials to generate higher value products with a lower carbon intensity.
7
industrial complexes
Five of which are interconnected and operate as one 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
+ 1
million
barrels per day of refining capacity in our industrial complexes.
48,110
Ktn
refining production in 2024.
Featured projects
Featured projects
We are strengthening the competitiveness of our current top-tier assets in Europe, with net investments of 6.8 billion euros.
Cartagena Industrial Complex
Construction of the first biofuel plant, with a production capacity of 250,000 tonnes of biodiesel and biojet from waste every year.
New plant in the Basque Country
The development of one of the world's largest synthetic fuel pilot plants and another for biogas in the Basque Country.
Hydrogen and renewable electricity projects
Other projects to boost the production of renewable hydrogen and the use of electricity from renewable sources, with an equivalent production of up to 552 MW by 2030.
How the refining process works
How the refining process works
We use chemical and physical processes to transform crude and other raw materials into higher quality products with greater added value to be marketed.
- Pipelines
The crude oil obtained from wells around the world travels to our industrial complexes by sea or in pipelines. After it has arrived, it is analyzed and sent to different areas of the refinery for processing.
- Physical separation of the hydrocarbons
The first stage in processing crude oil consists in physically separating the hydrocarbons found in the oil according to their boiling point. Then, the crude oil is fed into a distillation column where it is heated at high temperatures. Later, the lighter components, such as gases, rise to the top of the column while the heavier ones, such as lubricants and bitumens, stay at the bottom. Even though we tend to think of gasoline or diesel, there's a lot more we can obtain from crude oil. Tires, asphalts, plastics, containers, and numerous other products have one thing in common: they all came from an oil barrel.
Look at the following infographic to learn about the process in detail.