Oil refineries fall into three broad categories:

• Topping plants
• Cracking refineries
• Coking refineries

A topping plant uses a simple configuration consisting of a distillation unit and catalytic reformer to provide octane. Typically, only condensates or light sweet crude are processed at this type of facility.

A cracking refinery, which is the most common type of refinery found in Canada, breaks down long hydrogen and carbon molecule chains in crude oil into shorter chains to produce gasoline and other products using catalysts, high temperature, and/or pressure.

A coking refinery processes residual fuel, which is the heaviest material from the crude unit, and thermally cracks it into lighter product in a coker or a hydrocraker.

The ERCB does not regulate refineries.