Wiktionary
n. An industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into useful petroleum products
WordNet
n. a refinery for petroleum [syn: petroleum refinery]
Wikipedia
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas. Oil refineries are typically large, sprawling industrial complexes with extensive piping running throughout, carrying streams of fluids between large chemical processing units. In many ways, oil refineries use much of the technology of, and can be thought of, as types of chemical plants. The crude oil feed stock has typically been processed by an oil production plant. There is usually an oil depot (tank farm) at or near an oil refinery for the storage of incoming crude oil feedstock as well as bulk liquid products.
An oil refinery is considered an essential part of the downstream side of the petroleum industry.
Usage examples of "oil refinery".
The weird-looking oil refinery appeared to be but a dot from this height, and as it turned dark a golden string of lights ran down the twisting road from Har Ha-Carmel into the Arab section by the waterfront.
A man named Thugg Finnbogi was the commander of the group that would move up Route 36 and attack the oil refinery.
Still others checked on the mining equipment and the oil refinery.
Looking down the coast in the distance she could see the shimmering steel on the oil refinery.
We've had fellers out at Kurnell, at the oil refinery, and I've had a coupla guys hanging out at La Perouse.
He turned away and went back to work, and between him and the tug, they systematically did the same thing to every blessed oil refinery in the whole world.
It had taken the rest of that day and all that night for the barge to make its way up the Firth of Forth, past the busy site of the Grangemouth oil refinery and the abandoned site of the Longannet power station, through the Forth and Clyde Canal, and down the Clyde.
Or are you referring to your little trip to San Rafael today-I'm afraid we'll have to postpone that for a bit - to inspect the site of what will be the biggest oil refinery in the world?
Pipes, twisted beams, shattered deck plating spread from the aft end like the remains of a burned-out oil refinery.
Well protected against the stiff spring breeze, they would watch from the north shore of the Maas Estuary as the six tugs pulled and pushed the Freya those last few kilometers from the estuary into the Caland Kanaal, from there to the Beer Kanaal, and finally to rest by Clint Blake's new oil refinery in the heart of the Europoort.