Refined Oil

Refined oil is the primary product of crude oil refining. It is produced in the Oil Refinery and serves as a chemical fuel and an important intermediate for several late-game chemical chains.

In the early game, Refined oil is often generated as a byproduct while producing Hydrogen from Crude Oil for Energy Matrix production. At that stage it usually has little direct demand, so it is commonly burned in Thermal Power stations. As the factory expands, demand rises sharply because Refined oil is required as an intermediate for Plastic and Sulfuric Acid production, and it also appears in some routes for Organic Crystal and other advanced materials. Because Crude Oil is relatively easy to run short on, many factories eventually try to reduce waste and convert surplus oil into more useful products.

Refined oil can be handled as a fluid, so it can be transported on belts with a low stack count or stored in Storage Tanks. It can also be used as fuel, but this is not the most efficient use of the material. A Refined oil stack burns for 1.66 seconds in a Thermal Power station, which works out to 36.0 Refined oil per minute. If the goal is energy production, it is better to process excess Refined oil through X-Ray Cracking in an Oil Refinery, since the output can cover the extra energy cost of the process more effectively than burning it directly.

Useful handling and production notes:

• Refined oil is the main output of Crude Oil refining in the Oil Refinery.
• It is a key intermediate for Plastic and Sulfuric Acid production.
• It can be stored in Storage Tanks or transported as a fluid material.
• Excess Refined oil can be cracked into Hydrogen and Energetic Graphite.
• If Hydrogen is in surplus, Reformed Refining can combine Hydrogen with Coal to produce more Refined oil.
• A system without Crude Oil can still produce Refined oil through Reformed Refining, provided there is access to Hydrogen and a small initial amount of Refined oil to start the loop.
• Burning Refined oil for power is possible, but using it as an ingredient or cracking it first is generally the better option.

In the mid and late game, Refined oil demand depends heavily on how much Sulfuric Acid, Graphene, Carbon Nanotube, and Organic Crystal production has been shifted onto alternative resource chains.