Are Automated Refineries/Extractors as fast as three workers?
Automated extractors harvest at the same rate as extractors that have 3 drones.
I tested this on the Hand of Darkness mission. I choose this mission because it ends at 5:12 if you don't kill the first hybrid and you start with drones and one extractor.
I was able to harvest a total of 696 gas by 5:12 with and without the Automated Extractors ability. Turning on Vaspene Efficiency allowed me to gather a total of 845 gas with and without Automated Extractors by 5:12.
Results
+-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------+
| Total Gas Harvested | Vespene Efficiency | No Vespene Efficiency |
+-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------+
| Automated Extractors | 845 | 696 |
| No Automated Extractors | 845 | 696 |
+-------------------------+--------------------+-----------------------+
Note: The mission starts you off with 100 free gas, so the net gain is 100 gas less than the totals I posted above.