In actuality the refinery uses an amount of energy dependent upon what it is refining. If you are using the 3.x branch you can check the energy output with a MJ reader. If you are using the 2.x branch for SSP, it is advisable to switch to the 3.x branch as the 2.x branch has errors within its energy pipes.
Using 2.x since I'm preparing to mash all of my mods into a smp server, and 3.x doesn't have smp support if I recall. The only thing a refinery uses by default is oil, and biomass if you have forestry and 3.x. I got rid of the 10ish gold conductive pipes and noticed a no real difference. Kind of crazy that you need 128 eu/t to fully power a refinery but whatever, guess I just need to find a way to generate that kind of power early on.