Pipeline Widgets Added to NACS Retail Fuels Report

Online resources provide an 'underview' of how the network of pipelines moves product.

March 08, 2012

ALEXANDRIA, VA - The vast majority of the fuels distributed in the United States - whether crude oil or refined product - travels via pipelines. The United States has the largest network of energy pipelines of any country in the world. The oil pipeline network alone in the United States is more than 10 times larger than that in Europe. But how exactly does product travel via the country??s 200,000-mile petroleum pipeline network?

NACS had added two interactive widgets to the 2012 NACS Retail Fuels Report that simply explain this very complex system. (Graphics provided courtesy of the American Petroleum Institute and Association of Oil Pipe Lines.)

  • Pipeline Transport
    A complex network of 200,000 miles of pipelines delivers crude oil from offshore platforms through to refineries and terminals and ultimately the end user, whether manufacturers, airports, the corner store or your home. This widget shows how 14.3 billion barrels of petroleum moves through the complex system.
  • Petroleum Products Batching
    With pipelines ranging in size from 8 inches to as much as 42 inches, pipelines rely upon a system known as batching to deliver product across the country. This process allows a variety of product - whether the many blends of gasoline, jet fuel or diesel fuel - to travel through the same pipelines. It??s an incredibly complex process - and even more so when it is disrupted. This widget allows users to see operations during normal operations, as well as how they might change during disruptions.

NACS will continue to add resources to the NACS Retail Fuels Report on a weekly basis.

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