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Oil is used to make much more than gasoline. Refineries produce fuels such as diesel, heating oil and jet fuel, as well as materials including asphalt, lubricants, waxes and petroleum coke. They also supply chemical feedstocks that manufacturers turn into plastics, solvents, synthetic fibers and many other goods.
What does oil become besides gasoline?
Oil products fall into two broad groups: fuels that are burned for energy, and materials or chemical feedstocks used to make other things. Some are produced as refinery streams; familiar finished goods such as plastic items are made later, through additional manufacturing.
| Product or group | How it is used | Fuel or material? |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel fuel | Engines in trucks, buses, tractors, boats, trains and generators | Fuel |
| Heating oil | Building boilers and furnaces, industrial heat and power plants | Fuel |
| Jet fuel | Aircraft engines | Fuel |
| Hydrocarbon gas liquids, including propane, ethane and butane | Several uses; propane, for example, is used as a fuel | Fuel and chemical inputs, depending on the product and use |
| Asphalt and road oil | Road and construction work | Material |
| Lubricants | Reduce friction in machinery | Material |
| Waxes and petroleum coke | Other industrial and commercial uses | Materials or industrial products |
| Petrochemical feedstocks | Inputs for making plastics, polyurethane, solvents and other goods | Chemical inputs |
| Petrolatum | Used in products such as petroleum jelly | Specialty product |
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) describes petroleum as a source of transportation fuels, heating and electricity fuels, asphalt and road oil, and feedstocks for chemicals, plastics and synthetic materials. Its overview of oil use also lists lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke and petrolatum among petroleum products.
Which fuels are made from oil?
Diesel and heating oil
Diesel and heating oil are both part of the distillate fuel oil category. Diesel is used in many heavy vehicles and machines, including trucks, buses, tractors, boats, trains and generators. Heating oil is used in building boilers and furnaces, industrial heating and power plants.
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Jet fuel
Jet fuel is another major petroleum product. In EIA’s breakdown of U.S. petroleum use in 2022, kerosene-type jet fuel accounted for 1.558 million barrels per day of consumption.
Propane and other hydrocarbon gas liquids
Propane, ethane, butane and related hydrocarbon gas liquids have multiple uses. They are included in EIA petroleum consumption categories, but they do not all necessarily come from crude-oil refineries: natural gas processing plants can also produce them.
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What materials and everyday goods come from oil?
Construction and machinery materials
Asphalt and road oil are used in construction, especially roads. Lubricants help machinery operate by reducing friction. Petroleum coke and waxes are additional product categories tracked by EIA, while petrolatum is a specialty example found in products such as petroleum jelly.
Petrochemicals and manufactured goods
Refineries supply feedstocks that the chemical industry uses to make other products. EIA explains that the petrochemical industry uses petroleum as a raw material to make “products such as plastics, polyurethane, solvents, and hundreds of other intermediate and end-user goods.” Other examples named by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration include synthetic fibers, fertilizers and paint.
These examples are downstream products, not necessarily items that emerge finished from a refinery. A refinery can produce or supply the feedstock; chemical processors and manufacturers then use it to make materials and consumer or industrial goods. For an overview of that refinery-to-product relationship, see the PHMSA refinery fact sheet.
How much petroleum goes to products besides gasoline?
The answer depends on the measure and year. EIA estimates about 7.5 billion barrels of total U.S. petroleum consumption in 2025. Its broad categories were about 43% finished motor gasoline, including fuel ethanol; 19% distillate fuel; 8% jet fuel; 19% hydrocarbon gas liquids; and 11% other types, including biofuels. These are shares of U.S. petroleum consumption, not a recipe for the output of a crude-oil barrel.
A more detailed EIA table reports U.S. petroleum product consumption of 20.279 million barrels per day in 2022. Selected non-gasoline categories in that table were:
| U.S. product category | 2022 consumption |
|---|---|
| Distillate fuel oil, including diesel and heating oil | 3.962 million barrels per day |
| Kerosene-type jet fuel | 1.558 million barrels per day |
| Asphalt and road oil | 0.373 million barrels per day |
| Petroleum coke | 0.255 million barrels per day |
| Petrochemical feedstocks | 0.237 million barrels per day |
| Lubricants | 0.112 million barrels per day |
| Waxes | 0.006 million barrels per day |
These figures describe U.S. consumption in the stated years, not worldwide production or the yield from a particular refinery. EIA’s explanation of petroleum products and uses also notes that its petroleum accounting includes categories such as hydrocarbon gas liquids and biofuels, so “petroleum” does not always mean products made only from crude oil.
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Why a barrel of crude does not have one fixed product recipe
Consumption shares show what a region uses; they do not tell you how much of each product a refinery makes from a specific barrel. The mix of refinery outputs varies with the crude oil and refining operations. Nor should U.S. consumption figures be treated as global refinery yields: they measure different things and cover a different geography. The EIA’s oil-use data and petroleum definitions provide U.S. consumption context, not a universal barrel-by-barrel formula.
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