Have you ever wondered what a barrel of crude oil can produce?

A barrel contains a total of 42 gallons of crude oil. The total volume of products made from crude oil based origins is 48.43 gallons on average–6.43 gallons greater than the original 42 gallons of crude oil. This represents a “processing gain” due to the additional petroleum products (such as alkylates) that are added to the refining process to create the final products. Additionally, California gasoline contains ethanol (approximately 5.7 percent by volume). Ethanol is a non-petroleum-based additive that brings the processing gain to 7.59 gallons (or 49.59 total gallons). States have varied processing gains, which results in discrepancies when considering a “barrel” of oil.

Here is a breakdown of petroleum products yielded from one barrel of crude oil:

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From the team of experts at Petroleum Service Company