BlockFactory:Oil Processing

Oil processing opens Epoch 3. You pump Crude Oil from Oil Wells, split it into Heavy Oil, Light Oil and Petroleum Gas, and turn those into plastic, sulfur, acid, batteries and fuel. Everything starts with the research Oil Processing.

Oil Wells

Oil Wells are single blocks in the world. Because a single block is hard to spot, the world map marks each one with a turquoise dot. You build an Oil Pumpjack on top of a well.

Buildings

Icon	Building	Size	Energy	Speed	Module slots	Recipe
	Oil Pumpjack	3 × 3	90 kW electric	10 Crude Oil/s when new	–	5 Steel Plate + 10 Iron Gear + 5 Electronic Circuit + 10 Pipe T2
	Oil Processor	5 × 5	420 kW electric	×1	3	15 Steel Plate + 10 Iron Gear + 10 Electronic Circuit + 10 Pipe T2 + 10 Stone Brick
	Chemical Plant	4 × 3	210 kW electric	×1	3	5 Steel Plate + 5 Iron Gear + 5 Electronic Circuit + 5 Pipe T2

All three are Epoch 3 buildings unlocked by Oil Processing.

• Oil Pumpjack: place it so that one of its blocks stands over an Oil Well. It needs power: with at least half of its 90 kW it pumps at full rate, below that it stops. The outlet is on the right side, toward the front. The more a pumpjack has pumped, the less it delivers: after 2 million units it is down to 60 %, but it never drops below 20 % and never runs dry.
• Oil Processor: Crude Oil enters on the left side toward the back, Water on the left side toward the front. Heavy Oil, Light Oil and Petroleum Gas each leave through their own connection on the front side.
• Chemical Plant: two fluid inputs at the back, one fluid output on the left side, plus item slots like a Fabricator. Use opens the window where you pick the recipe.

Crude Oil, Heavy Oil, Light Oil, Petroleum Gas and Lubricant need at least Pipe T2; Sulfuric Acid needs Reinforced Pipes. See Fluids. Oil Processor and Chemical Plant accept Rune Modules.

Byproducts must flow away

A machine stops as soon as any of its output tanks is full, and shows the Tank Full icon. With Advanced Oil Processing this matters: if you only use Petroleum Gas, the Heavy Oil and Light Oil back up and the whole refinery stops. Give every product a way out:

• crack Heavy Oil into Light Oil and Light Oil into Petroleum Gas,
• turn Heavy Oil into Lubricant or Asphalt, and Light Oil into Solid Fuel,
• or buffer the surplus in Storage Tanks.

Oil Processor recipes

Times are at speed 1.

Recipe	Input	Output	Time
Basic Oil Processing	100 Crude Oil	45 Petroleum Gas	5 s
Advanced Oil Processing	100 Crude Oil + 50 Water	25 Heavy Oil + 45 Light Oil + 55 Petroleum Gas	5 s

Both recipes can be run as soon as you have the Oil Processor. The research Advanced Oil Processing is still worth it: it unlocks Solid Fuel and leads to Asphalt, Flame Towers and the Electric Engine.

Chemical Plant recipes

Product	Research	Input	Output	Time
Heavy Oil cracking	–	40 Heavy Oil + 30 Water	30 Light Oil	2 s
Light Oil cracking	–	30 Light Oil + 30 Water	20 Petroleum Gas	2 s
Lubricant	Tallow Rendering	10 Heavy Oil	10 Lubricant	1 s
Solid Fuel	Advanced Oil Processing	10 Light Oil	1 Solid Fuel	2 s
Plastic Bar	Plastics	20 Petroleum Gas + 1 Coal	2 Plastic Bar	1 s
Sulfur	Sulfur Processing	30 Petroleum Gas + 30 Water	2 Sulfur	1 s
Sulfuric Acid	– (needs Sulfur)	5 Sulfur + 1 Iron Plate + 100 Water	50 Sulfuric Acid	1 s
Battery	Batteries	20 Sulfuric Acid + 1 Iron Plate + 1 Copper Plate	1 Battery	4 s
Asphalt	Asphalt	10 Heavy Oil + 2 Stone	2 Asphalt	2 s
Silicon	Silicon Processing	3 Sand + 1 Coal	1 Silicon	2 s
Explosives	Explosives	1 Sulfur + 1 Coal + 10 Water	2 Explosives	4 s
Fuel Canister	Flamethrower	10 Light Oil + 1 Iron Plate	5 Fuel Canister	2 s
Rune Slate	Rune Etching	1 Stone Brick + 2 Gold Wire + 5 Sulfuric Acid	1 Rune Slate	3 s

"–" means the recipe has no research of its own: it is available once you have the Chemical Plant. Lubricant also comes without oil: a Fabricator T2 or T3 makes 10 Lubricant from 5 Tallow and 10 Water in 2 s (research Tallow Rendering, Epoch 2).

What the products are for

• Solid Fuel: the best fuel, 12 MJ per piece (Coal has 4 MJ).
• Plastic Bar: Advanced Circuit (2 Electronic Circuit + 2 Plastic Bar + 4 Copper Cable in a Fabricator, research Advanced Electronics), Low Density Frame, Reinforced Pipe T1, Belt T3.
• Sulfur: Sulfuric Acid and Explosives.
• Sulfuric Acid: Batteries, Rune Slate, Processing Unit, and mining Uranium Ore (see Nuclear Power).
• Battery: Storage Cell (see Power) and the Battery Module.
• Asphalt: Asphalt Floor.
• Lubricant: Electric Engine.
• Silicon: Solar Panel and Processing Unit.

Full lists: Recipes.

Moving oil by train

To bring oil from remote wells to your refinery, use a Fluid Wagon. See Railways.

See also

• Fluids
• Fabricators
• Rune Modules
• Research Tree