Pipeline

A pipeline is a network of pipes used to move liquids or gases over long distances, usually toward consumers. Industry data shows that by 2025, the global network of trunk and transmission pipelines will stretch roughly 2.19 million kilometers, with North America holding about 44 percent of that total. Within that region, the United States accounts for 65 percent of pipelines, Russia for 8 percent, and Canada for 3 percent, meaning these three countries together contain 76 percent of all pipelines worldwide. The main source of pollution from pipelines is corrosion and resulting leaks.

According to *Pipeline and Gas Journal*’s global survey, 118,623 miles (190,905 kilometers) of pipelines are either planned or under construction. Of that, 88,976 miles (143,193 kilometers) are in the planning and design stage, while 29,647 miles (47,712 kilometers) are actively being built. Pipelines can carry any chemically stable substance, including liquids and gases. They transport crude oil, refined petroleum, fuels like oil, natural gas, and biofuels, as well as other fluids such as sewage, slurry, water, beer, hot water, or steam over shorter distances. Pneumatic systems also use pipelines to generate suction for useful work or to move solid objects. For water—whether for drinking or irrigation—pipelines are useful over long distances, especially across hills or where canals or channels would suffer from evaporation, pollution, or environmental harm.

Oil pipelines are typically made of steel or plastic and are buried underground, with pump stations along the route to move the oil. Natural gas and similar gaseous fuels are pressurized into liquids called natural gas liquids (NGLs). Natural gas pipelines use carbon steel. Hydrogen pipeline transport moves hydrogen through pipes. Compared to road or rail, pipelines are among the safest transport methods, which is why they are often targeted during military conflicts.

The first crude oil pipeline was built in the 1860s by the Oil Transport Association: a 2-inch (51 mm) wrought iron line running 6 miles (9.7 km) from a Pennsylvania oil field to a railroad station in Oil Creek. During World War II, some of the first major submarine pipelines were laid across the English Channel in 1944 as part of Operation Pluto, supplying about 8 percent of all petroleum products used by the Allies on the Western Front after the Normandy landings. China’s first long-distance oil pipeline, the 147-kilometer (91-mile) Karamay–Dushanzi line connecting the Karamay oil field to the Dushanzi refinery, began service on January 10, 1959.

Pipelines are generally the cheapest way to move large volumes of oil, refined products, or natural gas over land. In 2014, for instance, shipping crude oil by pipeline cost about $5 per barrel, compared to $10 to $15 per barrel by rail, and even more by truck—whose labor costs mean employment on completed pipelines is just 1 percent of that in the trucking industry. In the United States, 70 percent of crude oil and petroleum products travel by pipeline, with 23 percent by ship, 4 percent by truck, and 3 percent by rail. In Canada, 97 percent of natural gas and petroleum products move via pipeline.

Natural gas and similar gaseous fuels are lightly pressurized into NGLs. Small NGL processing plants can be located in oil fields, where butane and propane are kept liquid under light pressure—about 125 pounds per square inch (860 kPa)—and shipped by rail, truck, or pipeline. Propane is used as a fuel in oil fields to heat facilities, equipment, or trucks. At retail stations, propane is pumped into cars and trucks at less than 125 psi (860 kPa), while pipelines and rail cars use roughly double that pressure, around 250 psi (1,700 kPa). Because thousands of natural-gas processing plants sit in or near oil fields, the distance to ship propane to markets is much shorter. In the Bakken Basin—spanning North Dakota, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan—many oil companies separate NGLs in the field, allowing drillers to sell propane directly to small wholesalers, bypassing large refineries’ control over product and pricing.

The most recent major pipeline to begin operating in North America is a TransCanada natural gas line that crosses the Niagara region bridges. It started in fall 2012, carrying Marcellus shale gas from Pennsylvania and other methane sources into Ontario, supplying 16 percent of all natural gas used in that province. This new U.S.-sourced gas replaced gas formerly shipped from western Canada (Alberta and Manitoba), reducing government-regulated pipeline shipping charges because the distance from source to consumer is now much shorter. To avoid delays and U.S. government regulation, many oil producers in North Dakota—small, medium, and large—have chosen to run an oil pipeline north to Canada, connecting with a Canadian pipeline that moves oil from west to east. This allows Bakken Basin and Three Forks producers to negotiate higher prices for their oil, since they are no longer limited to a single U.S. wholesale market. The distance from the largest oil patch in North Dakota, in Williston, to the Canada–U.S. border and Manitoba is only about 85 miles (137 kilometers). Mutual funds and joint ventures are the biggest investors in new oil and gas pipelines.