The petroleum refining industry has undergone continuous technological evolution since the mid-nineteenth century, driven by changing market dynamics, environmental regulations, energy crises, and societal demands. This chapter examines the technological progression from simple distillation through increasingly sophisticated conversion processes, identifying patterns of innovation that provide valuable insights for contemporary net zero transformation. The analysis traces the development of key refining technologies including atmospheric and vacuum distillation, thermal and catalytic cracking, reforming, hydroprocessing, and energy integration systems. Each technological advancement emerged in response to specific challenges while being enabled by concurrent scientific developments and economic imperatives. The chapter shows how external pressures have consistently impulsed innovation acceleration, with crisis periods driving revolutionary improvements in energy efficiency and environmental performance. Modern developments in biorefining, digitalization, and carbon management are examined as precursors to net zero refining systems. The analysis reveals that successful technology transitions have typically occurred through phased implementation rather than revolutionary replacement, providing a model for contemporary sustainability transformation. The chapter concludes by identifying emerging technologies critical for net zero refineries, including advanced automated sorting, catalytic pyrolysis, biomass gasification, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, and CO₂ utilization systems. These historical innovation patterns suggest that the transition to net zero refining, while challenging, follows established trajectories of progressive transformation driven by external imperatives and enabled by technological convergence.