The course of oil processing can be divided into 3 steps:

  1. The separation of crude oil into fractions in which boiling point intervals are different (primary processing).
  2. The processing of the obtained fractions by chemical transformations of hydrocarbons contained therein and the production of raw material petroleum components (recycling).
  3. The mixing of components and, if necessary, the use of different additives to manufacture the commodity of petroleum products with the desired quality indicators (commercial production).