Pipeline transport

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HDPE pipelines on a mine site in Australia.

Pipeline transport is the long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas through a system of

pipes—a pipeline—typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014
gives a total of slightly less than 2,175,000 miles (3,500,000 km) of pipeline in 120 countries
of the world.[1] The United States had 65%, Russia had 8%, and Canada had 3%, thus 75% of
all pipeline were in these three countries.[1]

Pipeline and Gas Journal's worldwide survey figures indicate that 118,623 miles
(190,905 km) of pipelines are planned and under construction. Of these, 88,976 miles
(143,193 km) represent projects in the planning and design phase; 29,647 miles (47,712 km)
reflect pipelines in various stages of construction. Liquids and gases are transported in
pipelines and any chemically stable substance can be sent through a pipeline.[2] Pipelines
exist for the transport of crude and refined petroleum, fuels – such as oil, natural gas and
biofuels – and other fluids including sewage, slurry, water, beer, hot water or steam for
shorter distances. Pipelines are useful for transporting water for drinking or irrigation over
long distances when it needs to move over hills, or where canals or channels are poor choices
due to considerations of evaporation, pollution, or environmental impact.

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Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes which are usually buried. The oil is moved
through the pipelines by pump stations along the pipeline. Natural gas (and similar gaseous
fuels) are lightly pressurised into liquids known as Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). Natural gas
pipelines are constructed of carbon steel. Hydrogen pipeline transport is the transportation of
hydrogen through a pipe. Pipelines conveying flammable or explosive material, such as
natural gas or oil, pose special safety concerns and there have been various accidents.
Pipelines can be the target of theft, vandalism, sabotage, or even terrorist attacks. In war,
pipelines are often the target of military attacks.

It is uncertain when the first crude oil pipeline was built.[3] Credit for the development of
pipeline transport is disputed,[citation needed] with competing claims for Vladimir Shukhov and
the Branobel company in the late 19th century, and the Oil Transport Association, which first
constructed a 2-inch (51 mm) wrought iron pipeline over a 6-mile (9.7 km) track from an oil
field in Pennsylvania to a railroad station in Oil Creek, in the 1860s. Pipelines are generally
the most economical way to transport large quantities of oil, refined oil products or natural
gas over land. For example, in 2014, pipeline transport of crude oil cost about $5 per barrel,
while rail transport cost about $10 to $15 per barrel.[4] Trucking has even higher costs due to
the additional labor required; employment on completed pipelines represents only "1% of that
of the trucking industry."[5]

In the United States, 70% of crude oil and petroleum products are shipped by pipeline. (23%
are by ship, 4% by truck, and 3% by rail) In Canada for natural gas and petroleum products,
97% are shipped by pipeline.[4]

Natural gas (and similar gaseous fuels) are lightly pressurized into liquids known as Natural
Gas Liquids (NGLs). Small NGL processing facilities can be located in oil fields so the
butane and propane liquid under light pressure of 125 pounds per square inch (860 kPa), can
be shipped by rail, truck or pipeline. Propane can be used as a fuel in oil fields to heat various
facilities used by the oil drillers or equipment and trucks used in the oil patch. EG: Propane
will convert from a gas to a liquid under light pressure, 100 psi, give or take depending on
temperature, and is pumped into cars and trucks at less than 125 psi (860 kPa) at retail
stations. Pipelines and rail cars use about double that pressure to pump at 250 psi (1,700 kPa).

An elevated section of the Alaska Pipeline.

The distance to ship propane to markets is much shorter, as thousands of natural-gas

processing plants are located in or near oil fields. Many Bakken Basin oil companies in North
Dakota, Montana, Manitoba and Saskatchewan gas fields separate the NGLs in the field,
allowing the drillers to sell propane directly to small wholesalers, eliminating the large
refinery control of product and prices for propane or butane.

The most recent major pipeline to start operating in North America, is a TransCanada natural
gas line going north across the Niagara region bridges with Marcellus shale gas from
Pennsylvania and others tied in methane or natural gas sources, into the Canadian province of
Ontario as of the fall of 2012, supplying 16 percent of all the natural gas used in Ontario.

Major Russian gas pipelines to Europe in 2009

Crude oil contains varying amounts of paraffin wax and in colder climates wax buildup may
occur within a pipeline. Often these pipelines are inspected and cleaned using pigging, the
practice of using devices known as "pigs" to perform various maintenance operations on a
pipeline. The devices are also known as "scrapers" or "Go-devils". "Smart pigs" (also known
as "intelligent" or "intelligence" pigs) are used to detect anomalies in the pipe such as dents,
metal loss caused by corrosion, cracking or other mechanical damage.[13] These devices are
launched from pig-launcher stations and travel through the pipeline to be received at any
other station down-stream, either cleaning wax deposits and material that may have
accumulated inside the line or inspecting and recording the condition of the line.

For natural gas, pipelines are constructed of carbon steel and vary in size from 2 to 60 inches
(51 to 1,524 mm) in diameter, depending on the type of pipeline. The gas is pressurized by
compressor stations and is odorless unless mixed with a mercaptan odorant where required by
a regulating authority.

This new US-supplied natural gas displaces the natural gas formerly shipped to Ontario from
western Canada in Alberta and Manitoba, thus dropping the government regulated pipeline
shipping charges because of the significantly shorter distance from gas source to consumer.
To avoid delays and US government regulation, many small, medium and large oil producers
in North Dakota have decided to run an oil pipeline north to Canada to meet up with a
Canadian oil pipeline shipping oil from west to east. This allows the Bakken Basin and Three
Forks oil producers to get higher negotiated prices for their oil because they will not be
restricted to just one wholesale market in the US. The distance from the biggest oil patch in
North Dakota, in Williston, North Dakota, is only about 85 miles or 137 kilometers to the
Canada–US border and Manitoba. Mutual funds and joint ventures are big investors in new
oil and gas pipelines. In the fall of 2012, the US began exporting propane to Europe, known
as LPG, as wholesale prices there are much higher than in North America. Additionally, a
pipeline is currently being constructed from North Dakota to Illinois, commonly known as
the Dakota Access Pipeline.

As more North American pipelines are built, even more exports of LNG, propane, butane,
and other natural gas products occur on all three US coasts. To give insight, North Dakota
Bakken region's oil production has grown by 600% from 2007 to 2015.[6] North Dakota oil
companies are shipping huge amounts of oil by tanker rail car as they can direct the oil to the
market that gives the best price, and rail cars can be used to avoid a congested oil pipeline to
get the oil to a different pipeline in order to get the oil to market faster or to a different less
busy oil refinery. However, pipelines provide a cheaper means to transport by volume.

Enbridge in Canada is applying to reverse an oil pipeline going from east-to-west (Line 9)
and expanding it and using it to ship western Canadian bitumen oil eastward.[7] From a
presently rated 250,000 barrels equivalent per day pipeline, it will be expanded to between
one million to 1.3 million barrels per day. It will bring western oil to refineries in Ontario,
Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Quebec and New York by early 2014. New Brunswick will
also refine some of this western Canadian crude and export some crude and refined oil to
Europe from its deep water oil ULCC loading port.

Although pipelines can be built under the sea, that process is economically and technically
demanding, so the majority of oil at sea is transported by tanker ships. Similarly, it is often
more economically feasible to transport natural gas in the form of LNG, however the break-
even point between LNG and pipelines would depend on the volume of natural gas and the
distance it travels.[8]

The Enbridge Sandpiper pipeline is proposed to transfer valuable oil from Western North
Dakota through northwestern Minnesota. The pipeline will be 24-30 inches in diameter. It
will carry over 300,000 barrels of oil a day with a volatility of 32.[9]

Growth of market

Gas pipe in the dry region of Antofagasta, Chile.

The market size for oil and gas pipeline construction experienced tremendous growth prior to
the economic downturn in 2008. After faltering in 2009, demand for pipeline expansion and
updating increased the following year as energy production grew.[10] By 2012, almost 32,000
miles of North American pipeline were being planned or under construction.[11]. When
pipelines are constrained, additional pipeline product transportation options may include the
use of drag reducing agents, or by transporting product via truck or rail.

Construction and operation

Oil pipelines are made from steel or plastic tubes with inner diameter typically from 4 to 48
inches (100 to 1,220 mm). Most pipelines are typically buried at a depth of about 3 to 6 feet
(0.91 to 1.83 m). To protect pipes from impact, abrasion, and corrosion, a variety of methods
are used. These can include wood lagging (wood slats), concrete coating, rockshield, high-
density polyethylene, imported sand padding, and padding machines.[12]