Crude Oil is the raw fuel resource in Rust. You cannot put it in a minicopter, a lantern or a chainsaw. It only becomes useful once a Small Oil Refinery turns it into Low Grade Fuel, and it does that at a very good rate: every 1 crude oil becomes 3 low grade fuel.
That ratio is why crude matters. Low grade runs your vehicles and tools and goes into every explosive you craft, so a steady crude supply is a steady raid supply. This crude oil Rust guide covers every way to get it, from red barrels to pump jacks to the Dome pumps added in the Power Trip update, how to refine it, and how much fuel each source is really worth.
- What It Is
- Stats
- How to Get It
- Oil Barrels
- Pump Jacks
- Refining
- Dome Pumps
- What It Is For
- Sources Compared
- Tips
- FAQ
What Is Crude Oil in Rust?
The in-game description says it plainly: raw oil out of the ground that has to be refined before you can use it. Crude Oil is a resource, not a fuel. Nothing in Rust burns it directly, and you cannot craft it from anything, so every unit you own came out of a barrel, a crate or a machine.
Its only job is to go into a Small Oil Refinery. There it turns into Low Grade Fuel at three to one, and the wood that heats the refinery leaves charcoal behind as a bonus. That makes crude the cheapest bulk source of fuel in the game once you are past the first day, far ahead of crafting low grade by hand from animal fat and cloth.
Do not confuse it with Diesel Fuel. Diesel is a separate looted item that runs the pump jacks, quarries and the Giant Excavator. You cannot make diesel from crude, and you cannot refine diesel into low grade.
Crude Oil Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Shortname | crude.oil |
| Item ID | -321733511 (full list in our Rust item IDs) |
| Stack size | 500 |
| Despawn on the ground | 5 minutes |
| Craftable | No |
| Refines into | 3 Low Grade Fuel per crude, in a Small Oil Refinery |
| Main sources | Oil barrels, fuel crates, pump jacks, Dome crude pumps |
How to Get Crude Oil in Rust
There are four real sources, and which one you lean on depends on how far into the wipe you are.
- Red oil barrels. 15 to 20 crude and 5 to 10 low grade from every barrel, every time. The day one source.
- Fuel crates. The small grey fuel crates at Harbor, the oil rigs and other industrial monuments hold 15 to 40 crude alongside their low grade and diesel.
- Pump jacks. Feed one diesel and get 60 crude and 170 low grade about two minutes later. The mid wipe farm.
- Dome crude pumps. Added in the Power Trip update. About 3,000 crude in 20 minutes, but only after the Power Plant is powered and someone flips an oil rig switch. The late wipe, group-sized farm.
Oil Barrels: The Everyday Source
Oil barrels are the red barrels with the black and yellow oil logo. They sit among the normal blue and yellow loot barrels on roads, and every one you break drops 15 to 20 crude oil and 5 to 10 low grade fuel. There is no luck involved, so a road loop with a few oil barrels on it is a guaranteed fuel trickle.
The best spots are where they cluster:
- Under the Dome. Several oil barrels sit beneath the sphere tank, and the Dome has two free refineries next to them.
- Ocean junk piles. The floating trash piles at sea often hold oil barrels. Easy pickings from a boat.
- Airfield. The outermost hangar has oil barrels.
- Roadsides and the Lighthouse. Scattered singles along every road, and a few inside lighthouses.
A two-handed melee weapon breaks barrels in fewer swings. Keep one on your belt for barrel runs and save your tool durability.
Pump Jacks: 60 Crude Per Diesel
A pump jack is a static oil machine. You cannot craft or place one. There are three on every standard map, one each at the Power Plant, Water Treatment Plant and Train Yard. They are public, so anyone can fuel one and anyone can empty it.
Pump jacks run on Diesel Fuel, not low grade. Each diesel burns for about 2 minutes 10 seconds and produces 60 Crude Oil and 170 Low Grade Fuel. You get both, not one or the other.
| Diesel | Crude oil | Low grade | Time | Total low grade after refining |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | 170 | ~2 min 10 sec | 350 |
| 5 | 300 | 850 | ~11 min | 1,750 |
| 10 | 600 | 1,700 | ~22 min | 3,500 |
| 20 | 1,200 | 3,400 | ~43 min | 7,000 |
Power Plant is the best site. It has its own diesel spawns and two refineries in the same monument, so you can loot the diesel, run the pump and refine the crude without leaving. Train Yard is the weakest, with one refinery and no diesel of its own. The full breakdown is in our pump jack guide.
How to Refine Crude Oil
The Small Oil Refinery is the only thing that takes crude. Craft one at a Workbench Level 2 for 200 wood, 500 metal fragments and 250 low grade, buy one at the Outpost for 125 scrap, or use a free one at a monument.
- Load wood. Wood is the heat source, the same as fuelling a furnace.
- Add the crude. Split it across all three input slots. The slots cook in parallel, so three stacks refine roughly three times faster than one.
- Turn it on and come back for the low grade and the charcoal.
| Crude oil | Low grade fuel |
|---|---|
| 20 (one oil barrel) | 60 |
| 100 | 300 |
| 500 (one stack) | 1,500 |
| 1,200 (20 diesel in a pump jack) | 3,600 |
| 3,000 (one Large rig Dome run) | 9,000 |
Free refineries sit at the Dome, Outpost, Airfield, Harbor, Train Yard, Water Treatment, Power Plant, Sewer Branch and Launch Site. Refine where you found the crude and carry low grade home instead, since crude takes the same inventory space for a third of the fuel.
The Dome Crude Oil Pumps (Power Trip)
The Power Trip update (6 August 2026) gave the Dome’s sphere tank three working crude oil pumps. They do nothing on their own. The chain goes like this:
- Power the grid. The island grid has to reach phase 3 at the Power Plant, which takes heavy fuses. See our heavy fuse guide.
- Flip an oil rig switch. A new switch sits in the card rooms of the oil rigs: the red room on the Large Oil Rig and the blue room on the Small Oil Rig. The Dome then pumps for 20 minutes.
- Fill a tanker. Bring a modular car with a tank module, and connect it to a pump with the hose tool.
- Drain it on a car lift. Crude only comes out of the tanker while the car sits on a car lift. The garage at Oxum’s Gas Station has one, with a backup generator if the grid is down.
| Switch | Rate | Crude per 20 minute run | Low grade after refining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Oil Rig (red room) | Full | ~3,000 | ~9,000 |
| Small Oil Rig (blue room) | Half | ~1,500 | ~4,500 |
| Both at once | 1.5x Large | ~4,500 | ~13,500 |
Facepunch only published the rates (full, half and 1.5 times). The totals are community measurements split across the three pumps, so treat them as close, not exact. An October 2026 patch also added a short delay before the oil starts flowing after the switch is flipped.
What Crude Oil Is Used For
Crude itself has one use, the refinery. What comes out of the refinery is where the value is:
- Explosives. Every explosive takes 3 low grade, so one C4 holds 60 low grade, or 20 crude. A big raid is thousands of crude upstream.
- Vehicles. The minicopter, scrap heli, boats and cars all burn low grade.
- Tools. The chainsaw and jackhammer.
- Flame weapons. The flamethrower and flame turret, plus the molotov.
- Light and power. Lanterns and the small generator.
- Charcoal. The wood burnt in the refinery becomes charcoal, which goes into gunpowder.
Crude Oil Sources Compared
| Source | Crude | What it costs | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red oil barrel | 15-20 | One swing | Day one, any time on the road |
| Fuel crate | 15-40 | A monument run | A bonus while looting |
| Pump jack, 1 diesel | 60 (+170 low grade) | 1 diesel | Mid wipe solo and duo |
| Pump jack, 20 diesel | 1,200 (+3,400 low grade) | 20 diesel, ~43 min | Holding a monument |
| Dome, Large rig switch | ~3,000 | Powered grid, a rig run, a tanker | Groups, late wipe |
| Dome, both switches | ~4,500 | Both rigs, a tanker | Clans |
For most players, barrels plus a refinery at home is the whole fuel economy. Pump jacks are worth it once you are swimming in diesel from monument runs. The Dome pumps are an endgame project for a group that already controls the grid.
Crude Oil Tips
- Refine on site. 500 crude is 1,500 low grade. Carrying crude home triples the trips.
- Split the stack. Three refinery slots cook at the same time.
- Bring your own diesel. A pump jack sitting empty is common. Diesel from the oil rigs and Harbor goes straight in.
- Never leave a pump jack running. It is public. Whoever walks by empties it.
- Keep the charcoal. It is half of your gunpowder.
- Burn it before the wipe. Crude and low grade do not survive a force wipe. Check the force wipe countdown before you start a big farm.
Crude Oil Rust FAQ
How do you get crude oil in Rust?
Break red oil barrels for 15 to 20 each, loot fuel crates for 15 to 40, run a pump jack at Power Plant, Water Treatment or Train Yard for 60 crude per diesel, or flip an oil rig switch to start the Dome crude pumps for about 3,000 in a 20 minute run.
How much low grade fuel does one crude oil make?
3. A Small Oil Refinery turns 1 crude oil into 3 low grade fuel, so 100 crude makes 300 and a full stack of 500 makes 1,500. The wood you burn also leaves charcoal.
Can you craft crude oil in Rust?
No. Crude oil has no recipe. It only comes from barrels, crates, pump jacks and the Dome pumps.
What do you use crude oil for in Rust?
Only refining. It goes into a Small Oil Refinery and comes out as low grade fuel, which powers vehicles, tools, lights and flame weapons and goes into every explosive and C4.
Where are the pump jacks in Rust?
There are three on every standard map, one each at Power Plant, Water Treatment Plant and Train Yard. They run on diesel and give 60 crude and 170 low grade per diesel.
How do the Dome crude oil pumps work?
Since the Power Trip update in August 2026, once the Power Plant reaches phase 3 a switch in the oil rig card rooms starts the Dome pumps for 20 minutes. You fill a tanker module with the hose tool and drain it on a car lift. The Large Oil Rig switch gives about 3,000 crude, the Small rig about half, and both together about 4,500.
Does the Giant Excavator give crude oil?
No. The Giant Excavator only digs stone, metal fragments, sulfur ore and high quality metal ore. Use a pump jack for crude from a machine.
What is the crude oil stack size in Rust?
500. It despawns 5 minutes after being dropped on the ground.