Transporting Hydrocarbons by Land

Oil can be transported by ship. But sometimes it is better to transport it by land for economic, geographical, or political reasons.  In this case, oil pipelines, which link ports, refineries, and points of consumption are used. Similarly, gas pipelines form a network and are the preferred mode of transport for natural gas.

Operators using a level to bend pipes while laying pipelines between the Provence refinery and the Lavéra site (France, June 2005)
© Total/ Dufour Marco

Extensive Networks of Oil Pipelines

Pipelines are large pipes through which tens of millions of tons of oil are transported every year. The longest pipeline in the world is the Druzhba pipeline (5,327 km), which passes through eight countries - Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary¹.

To facilitate the circulation of crude within the pipeline, pumping stations located every 60-100 km increase pressure as the crude passes through. Inside a pipeline, oil travels 2 meters per second or 7km/h - the same speed as an elephant!

There are geopolitical and economic issues involved in the building of new oil pipelines.

Generally, the oil industry prefers to ship oil by sea because this mode of transport is more flexible. Unlike a pipeline, a ship does not have to follow the same route, which can therefore be adapted to meet demand. However, sometimes oil has to travel over land, for example to landlocked countries. In this case, it can be easier and less costly to use a pipeline than to transport the oil by road or train.

   • In countries with huge land mass such as Russia, pipelines are useful to deliver oil to ports for exporting by ship.

   • Western Europe has pipeline networks that transport crude from ports to refineries located further inland. These are also used to send the finished product from refineries to large consumer centers (fuel and raw materials for the petrochemicals industry).

Whether transported by sea or by pipeline, the safety and security of operations is key. If a pipeline is damaged by accident or sabotage, any leaks can be quickly detected because the sudden drop in pressure in the pipeline is registered. When the origin of the leak is located, the oil flow is stopped as soon as possible at the pumping stations and any pollution is contained.

However, leaks due to pipe corrosion can be major. Oil contains acidic gases such as CO₂ and hydrogen sulfide which, corrode metal pipes over time. To prevent such accidents, pipelines must be regularly inspected and replaced. In regions with harsh climates such as Siberia, oil pipelines are highly subject to corrosion. Since these areas are difficult to access, they are not always changed on time, and this causes leaks.

Finally, building new pipelines gives rise to intense negotiations because of the high geopolitical and economic stakes at play in the regions through which these networks pass. For example, up until the mid-2000s, Russia controlled 80% of pipelines transporting oil from the Caspian Sea which has estimated reserves of 17-33 billion barrels³. In May 2005, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was opened, linking the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and putting an end to this virtual monopoly. States in the region now sell over one million barrels per day directly to European countries. This oil transits via the BTC pipeline, which at 1,774km long⁴ is the second largest pipeline in the world. The new pipeline is helping reduce Europe's energy dependence on OPEC countries (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).

Gas Pipelines, the Preferred Mode of Transport for Natural Gas

As their name indicates, gas pipelines are similar to oil pipelines except that they transport natural gas. There are two types of gas pipeline:

   • Some are underwater, such as those linking Norwegian gas fields to European terminals or North Africa to Sicily.

   • Others are overland, such as those that make up the Russian network (the longest in the world, at almost 160,000 km long⁵). For safety and security reasons, these networks are buried underground.

Inside the pipelines, gas circulates at high speed. Its pressure is increased by compressor plants located at regular intervals along the network.

Contrary to oil, natural gas is mostly transported by pipeline. This is because for the same amount of energy, the volume of natural gas is 600 times higher than oil, which is liquid. This means that it is far too costly to transport natural gas by ship.

All the gas that travels throughout the world circulates in gas pipelines.

False. In some cases, it is impossible to build gas pipelines because the terrain or climate is too hostile. Sometimes, building this kind of infrastructure costs too much because of the distances involved - for example when transporting Nigerian gas to Europe or Qatari gas to Japan.

In this case, the natural gas is cooled to -160°C. At this temperature, gas becomes liquid and takes up 600 times less space, which makes it much less costly to transport. It is then loaded onto specially built LNG tankers, which keep it at a low temperature.

Once it arrives at its destination, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is reheated and turned back into gas, before being injected into the distribution network.

[1] Source: Pipelines International, September 2009
[2] Source: La Documentation française
[3] Source: Euractiv
[4] Source: Challenges, August 2008
[5] Source: Gazprom