Oil and gas are carried around the world in two ways — by ship and through miles and miles of pipelines. Oil tankers are usually very large, capable of carrying over 100 million litres (22 million gallons) of oil. Pipelines carry oil and gas from fields and platforms directly to refineries to be processed or transferred to oil tankers.
Advances in exploration and production have helped to locate and recover a supply of oil and natural gas from major reserves across the globe. At the same time, demand for petroleum-based products has grown in every corner of the world. But supply and demand are rarely concentrated in the same place. Transportation therefore is vital to ensuring the reliable and affordable flow of petroleum we all count on to fuel our cars, heat our homes and improve the quality of our lives.
Tankers, railroads and pipelines are proven, efficient and economical means of connecting petroleum supply and demand. Supply-end pipelines and railroads carry crude oil from production areas to a loading terminal at a port. Tankers then carry the crude oil directly to demand-side pipelines that connect to the refineries that convert the raw material into useful products.
Today’s cutting-edge tankers are the product of a commitment to safety combined with the power of computer-assisted design. As a result, the new ships traveling the seas are stronger, more maneuverable, and more durable than their predecessors.
The nation’s more than 190,000 miles of liquid pipelines and over 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines. Who are the primary means of moving petroleum products to consumer markets? Pipelines are safe, efficient and, because most are buried, largely unseen.
The Pipeline Performance Tracking System, PPTS, is a key component of the oil pipeline industry’s Environmental and Safety Initiative, a multi-discipline approach to understanding and improving industry performance.
Railroad infrastructure supports the transportation needs of industries as diverse as oil and gas, manufacturing, and agriculture. North America benefits from an integrated railway system that is vital to reaching otherwise underserved markets. Railroads are a safe and efficient means of transporting crude oil and other petroleum products.
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