Refineries play a vital role in the world’s energy market as well as the oil and gas industry by transforming crude oil into valuable products such as, diesel oil, petrol, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil has been the most important energy source for decades now and refined oil can be an extremely valuable export.

It can be tremendously beneficial for a country to have a supply of refined oil products so they are not dependent on foreign sources of energy. Instead, a country producing oil can create jobs, attract foreign investments, and even export oil in exchange for a significant source of foreign revenue.

The countries with the highest number of largest refineries in the world are South Korea and the United States of America. This list is based on the processing capacity of each refinery. Check them below:


1. Jamnagar Refinery

Jamnagar Refinery is owned by Reliance Industries in India. It is a private sector crude oil refinery commissioned July 14 1999. The refinery started out with 668,000 barrels per day, but now it is 1,240,000 barrels per day — which makes it the largest refinery in the world. Jamnagar has processed over 216 different grades of crude oil.

The project is situated on the northwest coast of India in the district of Jamnagar, which is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the north, Rajkot district in the east, Junagadh district in the south and Devbhoomi Dwarka and the Arabian Sea in the east.

The refinery complex is around 815km from the city of Mumbai.

The complex features Fluidised Catalytic Cracker (FCC), Coker, Paraxylene, Alkylatio, Polypropylene, Refinery offgas (ROG) cracker and Petcoke gasification plants.

Overall, the entire complex includes an area of more than 7,500 acres.


2. Paraguana Refinery Complex

Paraguana Refinery Complex is located in Venezuela. It is the world’s second largest refinery, owned by a state company, Petróleos de Venezuela.  The Amuay Refinery, Cardon Refinery and Bajo Grande Refinery were merged to create Paraguana Refinery. It produces 940,000 barrels per day. The refinery accounts for 71% of Venezuela oil production.

Last month, A power blackout forced Venezuela's largest refining complex, the 955,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Paraguana Refining Center, to shut down on Thursday, five sources close to its operations said.

Power outages frequently hit Venezuela's aging refineries and oil terminals, suspending the OPEC country's crude processing and exports and causing domestic fuel scarcity.

"There was an electrical problem, which even left the city without power," one of the sources said.

Technicians from state company PDVSA, which operates the complex, were called to a meeting to coordinate action, another source said.

Crude processing from four distillation units at Paraguana, located on the country's west coast and essential for domestic fuel supply, was at about 200,000 bpd before the blackout, according to another source.

A smaller refinery, the 187,000-bpd Puerto la Cruz, remained in service on Thursday, while most plants at the 146,000-bpd El Palito are halted due to planned maintenance.



3. Ulsan Refinery

Ulsan Refinery is in South Korea. It produces diesel, jet fuel, and gas. This company transports crude oil to Africa, South America and the Middle East. It is operated and owned by SK Energy —- the first oil refinery in the country; established in 1962. Ulsan Refinery is the third largest refinery in the world with the capacity to produce 850,000 barrels per day.


4. Ruwais Refinery

Ruwais Refinery is located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the city of Ruwais. It is controlled by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. The refinery was commissioned in 1981 and officially opened in March 1982. Ruwais processes 837,000 barrels of oil per day — which makes it the fourth largest in the world but the biggest in the Middle East.


5. Yeosu Refinery

Yeosu Refinery is operated by GS Caltex Corporation. It accounts for half of the petrochemicals produced in South Korea. They also offer base oil, lubricants and petroleum. Yeosu is situated in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. The refinery produces 800,000 barrels of crude per day. It is the 5th largest oil refinery in the world.


6. Onsan Refinery

Onsan Refinery is operated by S-Oil Corporation Inc. It is located in Ulsan, South Korea. The refinery produces petrochemicals, lubricants products and petroleum. It started operation in 1980; processes 669,000 barrels of crude per day.


7. Dangote Refinery

Dangote Refinery is situated in Lekki, Nigeria; owned by Dangote Group. It is the largest refinery in Africa and 7th in the world with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day. The refinery is into gasoline, diesel and petrochemicals. It was commissioned in 2023.


8. Port Arthur Refinery

Port Arthur Refinery is situated in Texas, United States. It is a subsidiary of TotalEnergies petrochemicals companies.The refinery produces 640,000 barrels of oil per day. It focuses on diesel, gasoline and fuel. It is currently the 8th largest oil refinery.


9. Galveston Bay Refinery

Galveston Bay Refinery is located in Texas city, United States. It is owned and controlled by Marathon Petroleum. It is the 9th largest refinery in the world but 1st in North America with a capacity of 631,000 barrels of oil per


10. Beaumont Refinery

Beaumont refinery is located in Texas, United States of America; operated by Exxon Mobil. It is the 10th largest refinery in the world with a capacity of 630,000 barrels per day. It offers gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.