oil & gas pipelines in nontechnical language

1How Pipelines Differ

Thediffcrenccbetwecnaviohnandavia!a"tha1aviokibum•k>n~r.-VictorBorge(l909-2000)

ThJsisqu1te<1Wee-pipeprobiem.-SirArchurConanDoyle(l859-1930)

rcquin·rncnts.•mlalarmbdls

Suchdiffercncesinnomencl.uurescanoccurconccrningnatural gas pipcli11csversus oil pipelines. amt crude oilpipelines versus refined products pipelines. Making lifec.sic·r.operationsofsometypcsofpipeline•aremoreorlcssindiSlinguishabkfromoilpipclincsopcrations.Thcscincludechemical liquids pipelines, nm1ral gas liquids (NGL) pipelines,and liqudied p•·<rolcumgas (Ll'G) pipdincs.On tlw otlwrsidc,pipclinesthatmoveanhydrousammonia,carbondioxide,andgascot1sch.,.micalslikcethylencopcratcm11chlikenaturalpspipdincs

The pipeline industry further subdivides crude oil pipelines into the

following categories

• Crodeoilgacheringlines

• Crudeoi!nuinlines

Somcwhatpar.lllcLnaturalgaspipclincsfallincochcsccaccgorics:

Naturalgasg:itheringlines

Naturalga,trammi"ionlines

Local distribution lines

HowPip<.W•Diff., 3

Crude Oil Pipelines

Fij. 1-2.Crud•o~tanki>otteryaiaw•l•i!e(CollrtesyMios""r,LLq

4 OioodCasP~WsflNorU•<Mi<ollonfl'Oi"

Refined Products Pipelines

Thcrcfincdproductspipclincvalucchainbcginsatrcfincricsandcndsatpetroleumproductsterminals.Thisisacollectionsoflargetankslocatedalongthe pip<·linencarrnn>unwrs(fig.1-J)

Fif.l-J.OilproducttanluotapipeliMtermil>ol(Courte•yE.>.plorerPipelineCcrnpony)

Productsmove•down the pipelinein hatches.Sometimesthe entire llowofthcpipcli11cisdiwrtcdintoatcrminalrn1k.whilcatothcrtirncsonlyaslipstrcamrnovcsintothctank

l'rom the ternunal.the petroleum products move to ret.1iloutlets orconuuacialandindustriolcomumersintanktrucksorinrankcars

Tht•network ateither end of a productpipelinenn vary.TheYellowstone'Pipelineoriginc1tesinBillings.Montana.whcreitrcccivesb.11chesofproductfromonly three refinerie>s.Tbcpipelinemovesthe product to tami11.1lsacm55Mom.ma.Yellowstoneis the single•sourcefor those terminals

Explorcrl'ipchncbcginsonthc·U.S.GulfCoast,whcrcitrcccivcsbatrhcsofproductfmm1dozcnormorerefineriesmdotherpipclines.Whennre>ehesDalla>,Tul$.1,St. Louis,111dChicago.Explorercompete~with other pipeline•comingi11tothcarca.ltalsocompc1cswitho1hcrrcfi11cricsinthcarca

HowPip<.W•Diff., 5

Natural Gas Pipelines

G'thering !mes receivenatur:ilgas at wdl sites,often moving 1t to gasplamsfor furthn processing(fig.1---4).Sonwtimcs.<lqwn<lingon gas <1ualityan<lcontamin.<nts,thenatur:ilgasisinjecteddirectlyintog.1str:rnsmissionlineswithout processing.Thecontentsoft he n.<tnr,11gas,partkuhrly cont;iminants,determine whcth•·r th<' natural gas'"'''""' needs c•.xtensiwpron-ssing Jtgasplants.

F"'ilities at gl>plant.<llMullyremow acid ga.<esand tlw NGLs.The acidgasesincludehydrogensulfideand carbon dioxide,gasesh.wingthe potentialto corrode the facilitiesof both the pipeline and the consumer.Hydrogensulfideisalso toxic.md isa polluum.The NGLcould indllde naturalgasoline,but".nws.proponc,andsornc!imcsedi;mc.

lfanaturalgas1tr<':tmhas,ihe:ivycont<'11tofNGLs.atleasttlw11aturalgasolitwandwmeofthebutanehastoberemowdtoavoidcondensationin the

andmovesfromtheg.<Sphntintankcars,trucb.orthcirownpipeline•

Compre~mr<Utiomat gasplantsor gathcringsysl<'n1'boost the pre.sureof the 11amr.1Igas to move or inject the gas into the main li11e.Sometimescompn·<sioni$notneededbenuS<·thenatur:ilgasisalreadyatalughenough

Nawralgastransmissionlincsrransporrnaturalgastothclocaldistribution

companies (LDCs) for further movement to homes and busineso;es_ lncreasingly,

naturalgastransmissionlincsdelivcrdirectlyrolargccnduserslih·ind"."''ialpl;mts,busincsscs.comrncrri;ol sites.and power generation pl;mts,bypassing

LDCs.Sometimes,insteadofgoingdircctlytocon.1umers,mturalgasisstored

forfmur<·use.Tbcstor.ig<·canconsistofabovcgroundsi<·eltanks.uml<·rgroundcavern.1,:iquifers,orold.depletedoilorgasfields

The management of daily and seasonal storage is an essential service

providedbyth<·mainlinc<tothcproduccrs.theshippers.andthcLDCs

Pipeline Customers

Crudcoilpipelinessclltransportationtoshippcrs.whichcouldbcrefincrscrude oil producersand traders.or other intcrrncdiaries.Thccustorncr.1forrefined products pipelines include•refiners, traders, and commercial andindustrialconrnmas rnch "'airlines. powercompanies,governmentagencies.audrailroads.

Naturalg..stransmissioncompanieshave the samegeneric customersascrudeoilpipelines.suchasproduccrsandtraders.lnsteadofrefiners,howevc•r,thcyhavcLDCsandl.rgc-volumcconsurncrs.

Jn the UniredSt:l!es,LDCsnormally havean exclusiveright to serveaparticular.1rea.Thcypllrchasrnamralgasandthcnprovidetran.1portationoftbcnaturalgastoresidc•ntial,comnwrcial,andindustrialcomunwrs.chargingone fee for the>ervice and then,1tur,1lgas.In sonicmarkers,the re>ellershave~corporate~ffiliationwith the LDC.In mo>tcasesin the United Stalc'sthe natural gastransnussionlinesnever actuallyow11the natural gas.Thcv•implytra11'portthenaturalgasforafee,j11stlikcrailroad•transportothercommoditieswithomowningthem

is" from the wellhead all the way to

ofsomc minorproccssing"t g"spl•ms.lncontrast.oil goes through major tnu1sfornution .1t refineries before it is

s"itable for cons.,mption by its various customers.13ecau"' oftbat. oilproducts pipelines carry mllltiple products.This adds even more contrast to

theoperatingcomplexitiesofthetwotype<ofpipeline<,oilandgas,aswill

becomeabund.mdyclearincomingch.1ptas

2The First Leg

NI I really need to know I learned in kmde'!?"r!en.-RobertFulghum(19l7-)

some s.ayn:otur.ilgas-for short but tmsp<·cifieddistances.An<ltheremightbeallusionstothefre.1hwoterandtoilecfacilitiesofCrete'sKmg Minas in these<;ondcentury 11.c.llutallthataucic•ntlore i> more about plumbing than pipdining. and whileit may be interesting. it is not all that useful

The real hisroryof oil and gas pipeliningbegins tworelevantremnantsoftheexperience<till

Creating Nostalgia

h1 1806 i11London.the London and Westminster GasLight and Coke Company (LWGL&:C}began hying the firstg;is mains ever placed under :opublic street. L\VGL&C li:idcommercializedthcprocessthattransformedcoalintogasthat

gave permission to dig from l·hymarket to St. James Street, by pipes made of

shccl l<·ad.and charg<' tlw city for municipal lighting.Thus die legal protocolfor future municipal franchises \YaSestablished

Gaslighiscapturedthe imaginationof citiesaroundAmericain succeedingdecadcs.arrivinginsub<equcmycarsin1hefollowingcitic•

1825 NcwYorkCity1829 Boston1832 Louisville1835 NcwOrlcans1836 Phihdclphi.11843 Cincinnati1846 St.Louis1854 SanFrancisco1867 LmAngclcs1872 Minneapolis1873 Seattle

Evidcnceofgaslightdis1rictssurvivcsinmanyofthe"-·cities{fig_2-l)

Thcgaslightco111pa11icsbuiltpla11tsthatgasifiedcoal and sometimesoil.wood,and evencottonseedandcorn cobs.They locarcdrhcscplantsclosctotheirurgetcustomers,thestreetlampdistricts,followedquicklybyresidential;111dcommcrciallii;htingcustorncrs.forthcdistributionsystcms.somcfashionedpipelinesinitiallyofhollowed.woodenlog segments(fig.2-2), withinsidcdiame1ersaslarg<'a58in.Lcngthsranfrum2ftto8fi.13yd1c·l820s,Aritish-dcsigncdcast-ironpipearrivedto replacelogs.

Fig.1-1.Gas~ght,circa 1891.TMhgllt(aw,.,h<lngingirlrMW:J.MurrmyGtowySto,.,.,RawlingsCnm,Ncw(oundland,usco'lo<4/lfma1111(acwr«ga•,undoubtedl)'supplicdlhrt>11Jlllacowngasd~tribution•)'ICem.(Courte•yCentre(orNcw(oundlandStudics)

flg.1-1.S•em•nla(ll<>/lowco'logu«da<aga•pjf><'line}ainC(Courco<yMidw<<!EnertyAuoclation; pll<>tobyTomMicsner)

Enter Competition

Jn 1821,a Fredonia,NewYorkblacksmith,WilliamAarona 1wwindusny.1-kpounded a fc•wkngths of pipe imo thevicinityofsomestrongelyigni1.1blegasbubblingfromarumIle then fashioned a floating, open-bottomed box next to his well andcapturcdthegasasitsurfaced.Finally.heranhollowed!ogpipestoaLakeErielighchouseah.1lfmileawayandthento1hene:irbytown.\Vichthelighthollsebeaconandchandelia•ofthetlwat•·rintowntlrnslitup,l-larthadcreatedthe n:ituralgaspipchneindustry.Thcquictcornpctitionbctwccnnatural gasandmanufacturedgascontinuedinAmericaforanother lJOyears

Oily Beginnings

While the Fredonia"uithy may Juve drilled dw first natural gas wdl,Americansusuallygi·wall the credit to Col. EdwinDrakefor drillingthe firstso-callcdwcll.l-lcfoundoilinTimsvilk.l'cnnsyk•niain l859andsinglc­handedlyinstigatedthe petroleumindustry'sownvc·rsionofthecosmic Bigllang.After1hatitexpandedi1wxorablyatn·rn;irkablespccd.with11oscerni11gbounds.Jn only.1 fewdecodcs,the"Big Bang" of oil and gas operationsswirledacrosstheoceam.creatingneworbitsofanivityasmarkNssuckedupthisncwe1wrgysourccforhcati11gandlighting

impossible.A dikmma arose concerning what to do with dw blessedlycontinuousproductionof oilwhen the roadslxcame hopelesslymired.

The conceptu'l in the oilbt1sinessfrompiping to pipelining,fromplumbing to st.med haphJz.udlyin 1862.J- L Hutchingsattemptedto demonstratehisn~wly1>atc111~drotaryptunp.He b~g;cnby layinga 2-in_cast-ironpipeoverthe hillfromthe historicTarrFmn oilfieldnearOilCreek. Pennsylvania.toa ne~rbyrefineryI-Ii•pump performedwdl.but the

4Oil Pipeline Operations

Energyandpcrsistcnceconqueralldimgs-BenjaminFranklin(l706-1790)

Oil pipelinesmo"" nullionsofbarrels of crude oil andrdincd product•each all over dw world. In the UnitedSt.1tcs,thcymove freight,dry or wet, at 2%of theroul freight bil1_113moil pipelines differ from gasas csublishcd in the bst two

Crude Oil Pipelines-a Brief Review

Crnd<·oilpipclincsgathcrth<·crudcfromwdlsandmowtrade

produnion:1re;is.Butonccrudcoill'ipdincoperatcsmoreorlc.sthe<amcasth•·next

Monypipelinesreceivecrudeoilsofdifferingqualitiesalongtheirrollles

Thcwcrudeoils"reeitlwrcommingledinthcli1worS<·greg;itcdandbatched.Thiswilldependonthecostsofsegregationondthespecificcrudeoil'svalue

intherefiningbusi1wss.Somerefineriesaredesigiwdtopron,ssonlys)wcificquohticsofcrudcoil.ln,1dvntcntlyrunningothcrtypcsonscvcrelydi.1rupt

operatiom or d.unage the equipment.Tho>e refinaies may demand specifically

d crude oil be delivered to th<·m.Other refinerie• can tol•·rate aofvariousqualitycrudcoils.lnthosccascs,pipchncsn•aytrack

thequalitie•ofdwvariouscrudeoilsmixedinthe!ineanddeliveredusing

11•«ili1yb,111ks.Thiscornplcxaccountingproccdurcal!owsthcpipclincstogiveshippers monetary adjustmcntsforqualitydisparitiesbetwecnreceiptsand

dl"liwrics. Quality banks an· discussed in more detail btn i11 thischapH·r.

Refined Products Lines-a Brief Review

st;irtcdonan1t1ltiprodnctsystem

Thequalityofproducts,eventho.1<.·withsimilarnames.addsalevelofcornplcxitytoproductspipcli11cs.forcxamplc.g.tsolincgcncrallycon1csinatlcastthrccgradcs:rcgubr.n1idgradc.andprcmium.lnsornclocalcs.forc.tchofthcthrecgradcs.environnwntalregulationsrequiredifferentspecificationsat pointsalong the routcofthclinc.Thisforces1hcpipdinetornai1Jgc six.nine,orevenmoreg,,des.eachwithitsownspec1ficotions.Ontheonehand.these n·gulatiomrequire more tanks to handle the differentproduns andincrease1hccornplexity.1ndcos1ofopcrations.Ontheotherhand.b.itchesof.1nysinglegr.1dewiththes.11nequa!ityspccificationsfromdifferentrefinersareofwnrnmmingledintoasinglebatch offungibleproducts.Thi••implifiesopcrationsandimprovcsefficicncy.

Field Operations to Central Control Room

Pipelineoper,tion.1.mdnuintenancewereonce P"rformedexclusivelyin the fidd. Accounting :mdn·cord keepingmay have bc.·<·11conducied at ocentnlladmini.1trativeoffice. I lowever,almost everythingdse, such asSlartingand Slopping pumps.opening and closingvalves,reading meters.servicingeq.,ipnwnt.an<lcompletingn•pairshadtob<•performcdmanuallyalongthc•linc.Theoper:ltionsandm.1inccnance functionsl.1rgdybllLrred.Manytimesthe ume 1wovledid both. A• communicationwchnology and automation

betweenopenltionsandm,1intenance·

Operationskcepthefluidsflowinginthelin"

Maintc·n:mcck<'cpsthcli11candcquipnwnti11goodop<·r;1tingcondition

Crude oil receipt and delivery field operationsCmdc oil, when it comes from the grotmd,brings with it some trash,

such ass.and.a• well a. water and gases.Production""'""""',. generallyroutcdthroughproccssingcquipincnt,rcniovingmostofthcsohdrnatcrialsandthcwater,and>cpar:ttingtlwoilandnaturalg:is.Thischapterdealswithoil'ssubsequentjourney.

After leaving die processingequipment, crude oil enters Im.it"/,mksRcceivingpipelin<""spublishshippcrguidclineslistingcrudcoilqualityspecifi­cations.Theprocessingequipment-1houldensurethecrudeoil isof sufficient