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Changes in regional demand, increasing pressure for sustainable development, and growing concerns over energy security are reshaping the global refining industry. A recent report by Rui Zhi De Energy Company shows that two major changes are taking place in the global refining industry: first, there is consolidation of production capacity; although the number of refineries worldwide is decreasing, the overall refining capacity is increasing, enough to meet the growing demand for crude oil processing ； Second, the industry places greater emphasis on emission reduction, with stricter emission controls. Research by RuiZiDe shows that over the past 20 years, global crude oil processing capacity has increased by about 13.5 million barrels per day, representing a growth rate of around 15%. In contrast, affected by factors such as aging infrastructure, shrinking profit margins, and a decline in fuel demand due to the advancement of electrification, the global number of refineries has been declining since reaching its peak in 2011. Today, the Middle East, China, and India are the main drivers of growth in global refining capacity, with the latter two serving as the key engines of growth in Asia. Among them, India’s refining capacity has been growing steadily, rising from 2.9 million barrels per day in 2005 to around 5.2 million barrels per day this year. The driving forces behind this growth include strong domestic consumption and strategic investments in refining infrastructure. The refining capacity of Middle Eastern refiners has also increased over the past 20 years, rising from nearly 8 million barrels per day to around 13 million barrels per day, with the additional capacity concentrated in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This move reflects a strategic shift in the Middle East: it is no longer limited to crude oil exports, but seeks to generate more value through downstream integration. This includes building large oil refineries with complex processing technologies, which not only meet the growing domestic demand but also supply refined oil products to major global export markets. Another notable trend is that Asia **is driving global oil refining capacity growth by focusing on large-scale integrated refining complexes. In contrast, the refining industries in Europe and the United States are shrinking, with some old and inefficient refineries closing down due to high costs and uncertainties regarding future fuel demand. This shift triggered a wave of industry consolidation: smaller, less flexible refineries were shut down, while larger, more adaptable refineries gained an advantage through economies of scale. Today, almost all new refinery projects are larger in scale and more economically viable. Therefore, despite a decrease in the total number of refineries worldwide, overall refining capacity has seen significant growth. In terms of promoting emission reductions, today’s refineries are being designed with an emphasis on enhancing control over their value chains and meeting the rapidly growing energy demand, while emission trends show regional variations. The emission intensity across the industry remains relatively stable, but regional differences in absolute emissions are more pronounced. Driven by rapid growth in production capacity and processing volume, total emissions from refineries in Asia have risen significantly, with the Middle East following closely behind. New refineries in Asia and the Middle East are designed to have higher energy consumption, but thanks to modern technologies and more integrated layouts, they often achieve higher carbon efficiency per barrel of crude oil. Emissions from refineries in North America and Europe have remained stable or declined, primarily due to the retrofitting and closure of these refineries, rather than significant improvements in carbon efficiency as seen in refineries in Asia and the Middle East. As climate policies tighten and expectations for low carbon levels rise, the emission gap between leading refineries and those that lag behind will widen further. This will reshape industry competitiveness and, in turn, influence future investment decisions across the entire industry. For companies that own and operate large refineries around the world, there are clear differences in their strategic approaches to business development between companies in Europe and the Americas, on the one hand, and those in Asia and the Middle East, on the other, especially when it comes to emission management. To meet stricter regulations and changing fuel demands, Chevron and TotalEnergies are focusing on integration and modernization rather than expanding production capacity. Chevron invests about $1.5 billion each year to upgrade traditional refineries such as those in Pascalguaла and Pasadena; despite their aging infrastructure, these refineries still have an operational efficiency of 86%. TotalEnergies is working toward a low-carbon future by integrating advanced biofuel technologies into its refining operations first. Asian state-owned oil companies have chosen a different path, pursuing deeper downstream integration through aggressive expansion. Saudi Aramco invests billions of dollars each year to expand its refining capabilities; it has not only built advanced refining complexes such as Jazan but also established joint ventures like YASREF and SATOR. While these projects increase production capacity and complexity, they also have a relatively high emission intensity, with an average of about 41 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per barrel of crude oil emitted – this is related to the energy requirements associated with processing heavy crude oil as well as large, complex systems.