Pipeline Transportation; the Underground Railroad of the Transportation Industry

Pipeline Transportation; the Underground Railroad of the Transportation Industry

Damon A. Stinger

TLMT 311

American Public University

Professor

1 December 2013

Pipeline Transportation; the Underground Railroad of the Transportation Industry

There are five modes of transportation that moves product across the globe in terms of transportation and logistics. Rail, water vessel, air, road, and pipeline are the five modes of transportation. Out of the five modes pipeline transportation in some instances is the least talked about mode or least considered mode. When one thinks of transportation truck, plane, ship, or train are the most common mode to come to mind. All modes of transportation are important and have a major impact on the world's economy. They each play an intricate role in moving product from one point to another. This paper will focus solely on pipeline transportation and its role in the transportation industry. Pipelines date back as early as 400 BC and play an even greater role today. A brief history of oil and gas pipelines will be presented with some facts in this paper. In order to better understand why use pipelines one must understand how pipelines work. That will follow the history of pipelines. There are regulations and agencies that govern the pipeline industry and that will be presented in the findings of this paper as well. The pipeline industry like all other transportation modes has tragic accidents that occur. The cause of natural gas pipeline accidents is covered in this paper as well as how safe are pipelines for transporting oil and gas products. This paper will cover all five of the areas mentioned above in order to provide the reader with a better understanding the importance and impact pipeline transportation has on the world's economy.

When people think of pipe they tend to immediately think of the hot and cold water pipes associated with their homes. Pipe is also generally associated with the water and gas pipes under the streets in the local neighborhood. What is unbeknown by many is that there are hundreds of thousands of kilometres of very large pipelines crossing our nations and oceans delivering huge quantities of crude oil, oil products, and gas. (Hopkins 2007) Many of these large pipelines are underground or underwater which is why they are considered the underground railroad of transportation. They are out of sight and out of mind for a reason. Oil and gas provides most of the world with its energy and pipelines are the main source of transport of these products. Pipelines work continuously 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year in order to keep energy supplied to countries that rely on oil and gas for energy. Pipelines have been used for over a thousand years to transport liquids and gasses. "According to Hopkins (2007), the Chinese used bamboo pipe to transmit natural gas to light their capital Peking, as early as 400 BC. It is safe to safe without pipelines the world would struggle to survive due to the great demands of oil and gas. The history of pipelines go back as far as 3000 BC when the Egyptians used copper pipe to transport water. China was the first country ever recorded to have used pipe to transport a hydrocarbon. In the early 1800's, oil was transported in wooden barrels on rivers by horse drawn carriages. Railway became the mode of transportation of choice and then pipelines came along as the better way to transport oil and gas products. Since the turn of the 20th Century pipelines began to get larger and longer and over the years they have increased and expanded to where they are today. The oil and gas business is big business today and it is predicted by 2030 global oil demand will rise about 1.6% per year, from 75 million barrels of oil per day (mb/d) to 120 mb/d. (Hopkins 2007) Natural gas demand will also rise more than any other fossil fuel as gas consumption will double by 2030.

Now let's look at what is a pipeline and how pipelines work. A pipeline comprises steel pipes (the line) that are almost always buried, pumping stations to propel the liquid and terminals at both ends for the product being carried. (Trapil website) Pipelines carries product between refineries,