| 1862 | Atmospheric distillation | Produce kerosene | Naphtha, tar, etc. |
| 1870 | Vacuum distillation | Lubricants (original)Cracking feedstocks (1930s) | Asphalt, residualCoker feedstocks |
| 1913 | Thermal cracking | Increase gasoline | Residual, bunker fuel |
| 1916 | Sweetening | Reduce sulphur and odour | Sulphur |
| 1930 | Thermal reforming | Improve octane number | Residual |
| 1932 | Hydrogenation | Remove sulphur | Sulphur |
| 1932 | Coking | Produce gasoline base stocks | Coke |
| 1933 | Solvent extraction | Improve lubricant viscosity index | Aromatics |
| 1935 | Solvent dewaxing | Improve pour point | Waxes |
| 1935 | Catalytic polymerization | Improve gasoline yield and octane number | Petrochemical feedstocks |
| 1937 | Catalytic cracking | Higher octane gasoline | Petrochemical feedstocks |
| 1939 | Visbreaking | Reduce viscosity | Increased distillate, tar |
| 1940 | Alkylation | Increase gasoline octane and yield | High-octane aviation gasoline |
| 1940 | Isomerization | Produce alkylation feedstock | Naphtha |
| 1942 | Fluid catalytic cracking | Increase gasoline yield and octane | Petrochemical feedstocks |
| 1950 | Deasphalting | Increase cracking feedstock | Asphalt |
| 1952 | Catalytic reforming | Convert low-quality naphtha | Aromatics |
| 1954 | Hydrodesulphurization | Remove sulphur | Sulphur |
| 1956 | Inhibitor sweetening | Remove mercaptan | Disulphides |
| 1957 | Catalytic isomerization | Convert to molecules with high octane number | Alkylation feedstocks |
| 1960 | Hydrocracking | Improve quality and reduce sulphur | Alkylation feedstocks |
| 1974 | Catalytic dewaxing | Improve pour point | Wax |
| 1975 | Residual hydrocracking | Increase gasoline yield from residual | Heavy residuals |