Transportation Activities
Oil Pipeline
When it comes to the transportation of oil, there are many ways in which companies can move their oil from place to place. The four main methods are by pipeline, boat, truck or rail.
- Pipeline: the use of pipelines as a means of transporting oil is a growing method, as the Keystone Pipeline is being built now in the United States. Pipelines provide the most efficient way to transport oil; however, its presence destroys natural scenery wherever it is installed. Pipelines can be used to transport both already refined products, such as gasoline and diesel fuels, as well as crude oil from the wellhead to the refinery stations.
- Boat: transportation of petroleum occurs mostly in the form of crude oil where it is transported from producing countries, such as Syria and Iraq, and transported to consuming countries; thus, it is critical to transport the oil over the ocean by boat. The transportation tankers that travel over the water are typically privately owned and can carry up to 25,000 tons of crude oil.
- Truck: trucks are used typically to transfer from refineries to local businesses, such as to gas stations. They are the least efficient method of transportation due to its limited carrying capacity, but is very common in the US.
- Rail: rail systems are also typically used for transportation from the refinery to distant consumers. Rails are very efficient and can transport petroleum products over great distances, so they are better suited than trucks.
Critical Investigation: How and Why
Transportation causes a variety of problems that impact both the environment and humans. The Keystone Pipeline is a hot topic in the US right now, as proposals have been made to expand it to become the Keystone XL Pipeline. The proposed expansion would create thousands of jobs in the US, but there have been environmental impacts already due to negligence on the part of TransCanada, the company that would control the pipeline. 21,000 gallons of oil leaked into North Dakota already on TransCanada’s watch in 2011, which is terrible for the environment. Environmentalists also claim that the oil that TransCanada wants to transport is not just crude oil, but bitumen, which is a combination of sand, clay, water, and oil, which is more corrosive that just crude oil alone. TransCanada would like to refine this into usable oil, but the Natural Resources Defense Council says that this is not worth it, as bitumen contains “abrasive quartz and sand particles.” The pipeline is still under investigation and its future is uncertain, but its negative impact on the environment should it be created would most definitely be certain.
Existing and proposed route of the Keystone Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline