It may not be obvious, but transmission pipelines are extremely essential when it comes to our everyday living. Read further on how they help, especially during this current pandemic.
The importance of transmission pipelines for oil and gas can be tied to their ability to enable any country to function properly even in the face of a pandemic.
This is because individuals, businesses, and even the government rely on oil and gas to carry out their daily activities. And this oil is passed through pipelines that could span up to 2.4 million miles.
In America, for instance, 29% and 40% of the energy consumed were sourced from natural gas and oil respectively.
Besides, oil refinery helps in the production of products including gasoline, jet fuel, petroleum naphtha, diesel fuel, heating oil, kerosene, etc.
And the demand for energy is increasing by the day, which makes it important to improve the transmission and distribution of oil and gas.
What are Transmission Pipelines?
A transmission pipeline is a transportation system that aids in the movement of goods and other materials. These pipelines can be used in transmitting oil, sewage, and even water.
Natural gas, liquid petroleum, and biofuels are among the most commonly transmitted materials in pipelines.
On the other hand, pipelines are not all the same and they differ based on the goods that will be transported and the materials used in their design.
What’s more, oil pipelines are hidden in the ground to conceal them from the public. As such, most people do not know that there is a large network of pipelines beneath them.
Types of Oil and Gas Pipelines
Petroleum and natural gas pipelines are employed in transporting energy products. Let’s take a quick look at each:
Petroleum pipelines:
These pipelines are used in transporting natural gas liquids or crude oil.
Pipelines that are involved in this process are of different types including crude oil pipeline systems, gathering systems, and refined products pipelines systems.
Natural gas pipelines:
These pipelines are used in moving natural gas from stationary facilities to different locations. The gas can be moved from gas wells to homes or facilities where they will be exported.
Benefits of Transmission Pipelines
Here are some reasons why pipelines are important.
Transmits Oil to Consumers:
Transmission pipelines are found across multiple state lines, which aid to transport fuel to consumers.
These consumers can use the fuel to power their cars, homes, powerplants, and businesses in order to carry on with their daily activities.
Let’s take cars, for instance, these vehicles rely on diesel or gasoline to run. Also, there are millions of registered road users, which means that each driver relies on oil products to keep their car running.
Further, the movement of oil to consumers would’ve been impossible without transmission pipelines. And given that these products are used every day in different capacities, it makes them a necessity.
Help in the Face of a Pandemic:
Transmission pipelines are important to carry oil that will be processed into finished goods to consumers.
The oil can be used to generate heat, or employed in cooling processes. And this oil is required at all times whether there is a health crisis, natural disaster, or global pandemic.
In the case of the latter, transmission pipelines have supported the stabilization of various economies even in the face of COVID-19.
Airplanes powered with jet fuel are used to transport medical personnel, hospitals can power their machines, and even workers can transport to work.
Creation of Products:
Pipeline helps to transport oil and natural gas, which are in turn used to create a wide range of products.
In line with that, oil and natural gas are used to generate power and they are used in ovens, stoves, dryers, and other machines.
The machines that create household products also rely on oil to be fully functional. The same goes for the products created since they also contain gas or oil-by products.
Improving the Economy:
The products transported using transmission pipelines help to promote economic growth.
For example, there are more jobs since professionals have to be employed to maintain the pipelines. In the same vein, more jobs are created each time pipelines are built or existing ones are serviced.
Research also revealed that the number of jobs crude oil pipelines created in 2015 was as high as 200,000.
The sector also yielded a gross domestic product of about $21.8 billion.
What’s also useful to note is that the high number of investments in petrochemical facilities of late can be tied to the reliable supply of feedstocks. These feedstocks are sourced from pipeline infrastructure.
It can, therefore, be said that pipelines help countries to grow economically.
Safety Methods
While transmission pipelines offer lots of benefits to both individuals, institutions, and the government, it is worth noting that there could be a negative impact on their use.
For starters, there is the problem of oil spills which could affect marine life greatly.
Also, certain oil companies in the past experienced oil spillage, and some were sued due to the negative impact of the event.
Despite this, an oil spillage is a rare event and there are several measures that can be used to reduce the potential for it to occur.
For instance, out of about 2.4 million miles of pipelines, 99.99% of these pipelines transport their products without oil spills.
Their ability to do so can be tied to the modern methods of inspecting and monitoring these pipes. These methods employ high-end technology and IT systems to ensure that the pipelines are in a good state, and therefore, protect humans and the environment.
Coupled with that, there are sophisticated inspection devices that are used to detect issues in these pipelines, which makes it easy to wade off future problems on time.
And most importantly, operations are now carried out with the goal of adhering to the federal and state safety standards.
Defaulters of these laid down rules are penalized which make companies working with industrial products sourced from oil to put the needful in place.
Conclusion
The importance of transmission pipelines for oil and gas makes it essential to any country. These pipelines transmit oil needed in homes, schools, factories, government offices, and other locations.
They also help to improve the economy and keep things running even when a natural disaster occurs.
However, certain measures need to be adopted to reduce the potential for oil spills to occur. These measures will ensure that the benefits of these systems are more than their side effects.
